Turning Time
by The Last Sith Apprentice
Summary: Well, you've all probably seen many stories like this... Harry going back in time to change everything... R/G/Molly bashing. Please review! It really motivates me to update faster---
1. Just Before the Next Great Adventure

AN - I love the topic of Harry going back in time to change things and make them the way they were supposed to be. I've read all the stories on PK that deal with this, (some are still in progress), but I've really wanted to write one of my own, so without further ado... Here's Chapter 1!!

A jet of green light shot from the end of Voldemort's wand and at the same time the Death Stick in his hands went flying away from his pale, long fingers and straight to its master, who had come to take full possession of it at last. Harry, his hand outstretched to catch the wand with the unerring skill of the Seeker, became aware of an oncoming bolt of green only a nanosecond before it actually struck him squarely in the chest.

It seemed to take him an age to fall, as he tried unsuccessfully swerving to the side to dodge Riddle's killing curse, he heard only the beginning of what would be a series of screams of terror and agony from the defenders of Hogwarts and cries of jubilation from the horde of victorious Death Eaters. For a fleeting moment, he managed to look at Hermione, tears dripping down her beautiful face, her hands over her mouth as she watched in shock. Green eyes met brown ones for barely a second, a second that contained all eternity, a second that epitomised seven years of friendship, understanding, loyalty and..._love?_

He would never know, for he broke eye contact with the love of his life, toppling and striking the ground with a resounding boom, the noise signifying the doom of the valiant freedom fighters whose struggle had gone in vain.

Harry's body glowed golden for a moment before fading. The light went out of his emerald, green orbs for the last time leaving them void and emotionless. His body burst into flames as soon as this happened and even before he burned completely, his body vanished entirely. All that was left was two of the Deathly Hallows and Draco Malfoy's hawthorne wand.

Harry coughed as he tried to make sense of his surroundings, looking around him. He got up from where he had fallen and scanned the surrounding area. It was as if he was surrounded by clouds all around and yet, he was definitely walking on a solid surface. It was not unlike the limbo he had entered just an hour ago, and yet there were a few changes.

The whimpering, pitiable, stunted creature was not there this time, however there were two other people sitting on chairs. One of them was an old man who looked as though he had enjoyed everything life had to offer him, and the other was a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She looked like she had been crying for some time.

Harry took the seat by the old man and asked in a seemingly conversational tone, but in reality wanting to make sure, 'So we're dead, huh?'

The old man looked increduously at him for a moment, before asking him how he died.

'Well,' Harry said, not wanting to go into the details with this stranger, 'I did something as an experiment pretty sure it would work but it backfired.'

'Youth,' the old man muttered, looking away from Harry and chancing an awkward glance at the woman beside him, as though she too had tried something which had failed. The lady took no notice of the man, too wrapped in her own misery. Harry became curious as to how she died.

Harry didn't bother asking the man how he died, for it was fairly obvious that he had died of old age. He was also pretty sure this man wasn't British, as he didn't recognise the Harry Potter. He looked past the man back at the young girl, wondering for an instant whether she too had been killed. If so, she was taking the news much worse than he was, although that thought sickened Harry. He was dead. Voldemort had won. He had failed the Prophecy, failed the world, failed Dumbledore, failed _Hermione._

His heart clenched at the thought of Hermione. He loved her and he had failed her. Tears started leaking from his eyes as he thought of how all they ever shared was that one magical hour that cold night when Ron had left. That was all they had to remember.

_That's all she has to remember me by. I'm dead, remember? _Harry thought dejectedly, playing with the hem of the clean, white robes he seemed to have received in 'heaven'. Or was it hell he was going to because he had let the world down?

He looked up again when he heard a crisp, confident voice cry out, 'Robert Fiendthorne, a hundred and seven!' He watched the old man walk to a small door, and just like that, he vanished.

He shifted himself so that he was sitting next to the young woman. He looked at her for a moment, wondering if he could ask.

'I was killed, if you really want to know,' she said softly, not looking at him.

'Oh, I'm sorry, are you from England?' Harry asked sympathetically, wondering for an instant whether this girl had died because of Voldemort.

'Yes, I was killed by the Snatchers by order of _Dolores Umbridge,' _she said, spitting out the last two words.

'Are you Muggle-born?' Harry asked.

'Does it really matter? I'm a person. It was horrible. I'm glad I got to live so long - You're Harry Potter!' she exclaimed suddenly on noticing his scar.

'Yes I am,' Harry replied monotonously, somewhat startled from her abrupt change in tone. He couldn't believe his luck. Even in limbo, he had people noticing his scar and gasping.

'So if you're here, then that means...it's over? Y-You-Know-Who's won?' she gasped, and then quickly added, 'I'm Nora Brighton, by the way.'

'Yes, I guess. I-I'm sorry, Nora. I really tried my best. I always had a feeling that Voldemort could somehow be defeated. But the truth is, Voldemort won the moment Albus Dumbledore fell from the lightning-struck tower.'

'It's ok,' she whispered, placing her hand on his, looking into his eyes. Harry looked away, feeling unexpectedly nervous at being subjected to her stare. For some reason, this woman reminded him a lot of Hermione. The depression that he had managed to ebb away for the time being, came back to him, hitting him like a slap on the face.

What would happen to Hermione now? She was a Muggle-born. His body crumbled as he thought of the certain cruelty they would inflict upon Hermione. Would they give her a painless death by an Avada Kedavra, or would they torture her as a pastime? Bile swept up in Harry's throat as he thought of Hermione screaming in agony, worse than she did in Malfoy Manor. He fell from his seat, slumping to the floor with a strangled moan, his head in his hands. He cried softly, just barely noticing that Nora had also gotten down on the ground, wrapping her arms around him softly. He stayed like that for a moment, trying to imagine and convince himself that it was Hermione who was embracing him, with her light vanilla fragrance and her ever-knowing nature.

'I'm a Muggle-born, I passed out of Hogwarts five years ago. My parents were school teachers. After Professor Dumbledore died, I hid my parents and myself away in a different part of England, and till now, we evaded capture,' she said, crying softly.

Harry looked at her, waiting for her to continue, forgetting his own grief for a moment.

'And then... then they arrived. Umbridge blasted down our main door, and she marched in with ten Snatchers surrounding her. I don't want to go into the specifics but she was the one who killed my parents and my little sister. Then she came upto me and spat in my face telling me that those filthy Muggles should have considered it a great honour to be personally killed by her. She then sat in a chair and then called two of her thugs to...to deal with me,' she said.

'Oh, so then they...they k-killed you?' Harry asked, feeling repulsed by how insincere his words sounded.

'No...they first...played with me, and then they...they killed me,' she whispered.

Anger arose in Harry, he clenched his fists and willed himself not to roar in frustration ; he couldn't believe that anyone could do something like this. She was just an innocent, pretty, young woman who suffered all this because her parents were Muggles. Briefly he wondered if atrocious things like this happened very frequently throughout the last year when they were hunting for Horcruxes.

'I was saving myself, because...because I was going to get married in three months, I even had a r-ring,' she said, now crying openly, rubbing her right index finger over her left ring finger, staring at the ring wistfully, unable to speak any more words.

Harry too couldn't stop his tears as he took Nora into his arms, running his fingers through her long hair, whispering cooing words into her ears. He was always bad at dealing with crying girls, pity he knew what to do with them only after he died.

He didn't know how long they stayed wrapped in each other's arms, taking comfort in the other's presence, but they were brought back to earth, or limbo rather, when they heard a familiar voice call out, 'Nora Brighton, twenty-two!'

Nora stiffened, moving away from Harry, looking fearfully at the door from where the voice had sounded. She got up to go, looking back at Harry with a sad smile. Harry also got up and went toward her.

Taking her hands in his, he said, 'You're a good person, you haven't sinned in your life, which means nothing bad will happen to you when you go in there.'

'But I'm dead,' she complained, trying to rub away the fresh tears forming in her already red and puffy eyes.

Harry only smiled. 'Don't pity the dead, pity the living, and pity those who live without love, an old friend told me, or something to that effect,' he said, massaging the back of her hand soothingly.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Nora's face. Pleased with himself, he added, 'And that same person once told me that after life, death is but the next great adventure.'

He bent over, and cupping her cheeks, he gently kissed her on the lips. It wasn't meant to be romantic, but only comforting and supporting, something a peck on the cheeks couldn't do. She closed her eyes for a moment, and drew away from him, walking towards the door of Fate.

Harry sat down with a sigh, thinking of how he was alone again. He thought of everything that had happened in his life. The night Ron had left. How he had initially just thrown a blanket over a weeping Hermione, but later on had gone and comforted her. They had lain together silently for what seemed like hours, holding each other close, never letting go of the only other person they had in the world at that moment.

Then they had opened up to each other in a way they never had before and started talked about their views, their dreams, their feelings. He remembered how Hermione had told him how she had developed a crush on him sometime in third year, but later pursued Ron, when it was becoming apparent that Harry would never see her that way. He grieved for not seeing what was right in front of him all along, how he had noticed Cho, even Ginny, Ron's little sister ; when all the time Hermione was right there at his side, as she always was.

They told each other they loved the other. Both of them confessed that they couldn't go on without the other in their life and Harry cried silently as he remembered how they had mutually agreed not to do anything, not to act on their affections, because by that time, they had already made unspoken commitments to the youngest Weasleys. Harry and Hermione knew that Ron was their best friend and he would soon be coming back after getting over his anger. He couldn't do this to Ron, he always got everything Ron wanted without even trying too hard for it, and now if he started anything with Hermione, Ron would be crushed. He wouldn't take something that Ron wanted so badly away from him.

Harry cursed softly to himself as he imagined the choice he had made that day. The choice he had made to reject Hermione's love. The decision they had both agreed upon. He had picked what was right, not what was easy.

But still, neither of them wanted to live the rest of their lives without anything ever happening between them. They didn't want to be with other people, knowing that they never did anything together.

He and Hermione agreed that they would be each others' first. Neither of them wanted to lose their virginity to any other person in the world. It was fitting and it was the best they could settle for.

One hour of togetherness was all they had shared. Only one hour. It wasn't fiery, hot and passionate, but slow, gentle and loving. Each stroke that Harry made within her reminded both of them of all the things they had done together. It reminded Harry of the fact that not once in his life as a wizard, had Hermione left him to his own devices. Even now, with the Horcrux hunt going poorly, Hermione was with him, standing firm. She was his rock. Unbeknownst to the other, both of them vowed silently in their minds that they would never forget this night, this one hour. Even before they died, they would take not memories of their lives with their to-be spouses, but that of this one hour.

Weeks passed by, and even after the life and death situation at his ancestral home, Harry and Hermione found only themselves to talk to. Harry began to get a hopeful feeling in his chest that Ron had given up completely on reconciling with them, and by extension, on Hermione.

He approached Hermione in her bed for the first time since that night. He discussed what was going on in his mind, about the chance they still had. To his delight, Hermione agreed. She said that Ron had almost certainly abandoned them for ever, and that it was nearing two months since his departure.

Hermione told him that they would have to be fair to their best friend, and that they would wait exactly another week, before starting what would hopefully be a glorious relationship. Hope blossomed in Harry, things started becoming clearer to him. He couldn't stop smiling ; he felt as though he actually had a future, even though the Horcrux hunt was going terribly.

Three days later, on what seemed to be the coldest morning of that season, Harry arose early and spotted something suspiciously bright outside the tent they were camping in. It led him to a beautiful projection of a silver doe. However, for Harry and Hermione, the outcome wasn't so beautiful as it brought an end to whatever lingering romance they had.

*

Harry remembered as the days passed by, as more and more people they knew died, till finally all thought of romance was driven away from his mind. No matter what happened, things would never go back to how they were before. Too many people had departed, too many things had changed and Harry and Hermione's friendship never remained the same again.

The last six hours was like a mass funeral for Harry. He remembered with a jolt as Remus and Tonks had both died within seconds of each other, as Fred and George were blown to smithereens, as Hagrid was hit from behind by his old nemesis McNair, as Neville and Luna were hit by random Killing curses. Then brave Kingsley and McGonagall, who were killed by Lord Voldemort himself. Mrs. Weasley, though quite a formidable witch, proved to be no match for Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry still thought that after all that death, he was in with a chance due to the allegiance of the Elder Wand, but apparently he was mistaken.

He frowned as he remembered his last moments on Earth. He still didn't understand what happened. Wasn't the Elder Wand supposed to not harm its master?

Before he could think about the matter any further, he was interrupted by a voice.

'Harry Potter, seventeen!'

Please REVIEW!! I have every intention of making a novel-length fic out of this, and your reviews will motivate me even more!


	2. Discussing death with Death

So, here it is, the next chapter you've been waiting for (I hope!).

_'Harry Potter, seventeen!'_

Harry got up with a start, and looked around. He couldn't remember where exactly the old man and Nora had gotten off to when they were called. He took a few steps forward and then felt a slightly alluring force draw him to the left. He followed it with a little trepidation, not knowing whether God would appear suddenly, greeting him warmly, or whether it would be the Devil who would put him to hard labour immediately.

He walked towards what seemed to be a thin veil of silvery-white mist and slowly stretched a hand to touch it. A tracing of a gold arch appeared out of nowhere, and extended to take the form of a door. Harry stared at it blankly for a couple of seconds, wondering whether he should knock first or just turn the knob and walk in.

'Don't stand there all day admiring my door boy, get in here!' a grumpy voice sounded out, startling Harry.

Harry turned the knob, opened the door and stepped in cautiously, his senses on wide alert.

'Don't be so tense boy, you're already dead, at least for the moment, so I can't harm you anyway,' the same voice said, and Harry abruptly turned towards the direction he had just come from.

There, instead of a door, was a big, heavy, furnished wooden table with a huge amount of papers scattered all over it. A bearded middle-aged man of average build was sitting in a chair right behind it, looking at Harry intently.

'So..um.. are you God or Fate or... whatever you call it?' Harry asked stupidly, knowing immediately when he said those words that heaven's first impression of him was not a great one.

The man, who had been looking at him all the while with an expressionless face, promptly burst out into loud guffaws. Clutching his stomach, he regarded Harry with tears of laughter in his eyes.

'I sit in an ordinary desk with a nearly broken chair, I'm unshaven and I call out names every twenty minutes. Do you really think I'm God?' the man asked sarcastically, yet there was no malice in his voice, only humour.

'No, I guess not,' Harry said embarrassedly, as the man gestured for him to take a seat in the chair opposite to him.

Harry sat down with a sigh, his eyes wandering over the stack of papers littering the table, wondering if any of them were death warrants that sent people here in the first place.

'So, you were hit by a Killing Curse, am I correct?' the man asked, his eyes skimming through one of the many bundles of papers.

'Yes,' Harry replied monotonously.

'Merlin's beard, you've got so many-'

'Steve! How many times do I have to tell you not to say that word! It's barely acceptable when our new clients say it, but you've been here for the last sixteen years, I think at least you should've grown out of saying it by now,' a cool, female voice interrupted him, although it was impossible to discern the direction it was coming from.

'Sorry Jenny,' the man said and mockingly added, 'You're not going to fire me for that, are you?'

'Nope, you won't be fired for that,' she said calmly. 'But that's because I have other uses for you,' she added.

Steve turned slightly red and muttered something incomprehensible.

_'Gee, I didn't know people flirt in heaven too,' _Harry thought, looking at the older man thoughtfully.

'Yes, things aren't as dry and boring as you probably expected them to be,' the man said, all traces of a blush gone from his face as he looked back at Harry, 'We're people too, people who can laugh, fight, talk etc. We just happen to be dead,' he finished.

'I wasn't judging you, I was just taken aback is all,' Harry said defensively. 'And do _dead _people sneak up on other people's thoughts and display them?' he added waspishly.

'Nope, that part isn't in the job description ; but you do to seem to wear your emotions on your sleeve, I can feel the radiation of your thoughts from over here,' the man said, not in the least perturbed by Harry's biting remark.

'Fine, I suck at Occlumency, so it's easy for you to read my thoughts, why don't you just-,' but he was interrupted by an even louder roar of laughter than the first one. The man banged the desk with his fists several times, unable to articulate a single word as he almost choked.

'Occlu-Occlu- Hahahahaha oh-' the man wheezed out, 'Mother of Mer-SORRY!' he immediately shouted out, to prevent Jenny from getting on his case again. He composed himself quickly and then waved his hand in a swish and flick motion, and a glass of red brandy appeared out of nowhere. He took a long sip from it, and sighed contentedly.

'This isn't a classroom, where your horrible excuse of a teacher looks deep into your eyes to get information from you. You're dead boy, this is limbo or heaven or hell or whatever the hell you want to call it ; this isn't some interrogation cell where your interrogators use Legilimency against you followed by a good round of pain.'

'Then how did you read my mind?' Harry asked obstinately,

'Never you mind. Now that's about enough of socialization for today. Let's get on with why you're here,' the man said, a ghost of a grin still remaining on his face.

'Well, that's pretty obvious isn't it? I'm dead and I've been-'

'Let me rephrase for you, young man, you really seem to need the use of exact words and a bit of spoon feeding to solve any puzzle given to you. You're already dead, or at least you seem so, and regarding you, as usual, the case is a little awkward,' Steve said.

'How so?' Harry asked, ignoring Steve's jibe.

'We're not sure if you're going to remain dead. In fact, we're pretty sure you're gonna' go back,' Steve told him.

'Why's that?' Harry asked in surprise, and added, 'And we means - you and..her?'

'Well, it's not in my place to tell you the mechanics of the whole thing, actually it wasn't even in my place to tell you that you'll probably be getting a second chance.. That's Jenny's job,' Steve replied, finishing his drink.

'Ookaay,' Harry responded slowly, 'So what are we sitting here for?'

'Well, as you've probably figured out I am the gatekeeper of Death, and I'm here to discuss your condition and history and then lead you to the appropriate place,' Steve said.

All kinds of questions were forming themselves rapidly in Harry's mind and he couldn't decide which one he should voice first. But then Steve interrupted him.

'Whoa-whoa, there's no satisfying your curiosity, is there?!' Steve exclaimed.

'You can choose not to read my mind without my permission,' Harry grumbled.

'As I said before, it's not your mind I'm reading, it's just the vibes you're sending out-'

'All right,all right, I got it, the vibes, the radiation. Now can you just answer my questions? What do I get a second chance for and why do I get it in the first place? What's Jenny's job in this limbo and what appropriate place are you taking me to? And what's wrong with my history? I'm a normal seventeen year old who just happened to get killed,' Harry said, firing out everything that came to his mind.

'I told you already, it's not in my place to answer all your questions. But here's what I _can _tell you. Your history is quite eventful, as are your brushes with death. We've actually seen your shadow and almost your whole body appear here before in the past, but then either you miraculously recovered or someone saved you in the nick of time.'

'How many times have I been here before?' Harry asked.

'Almost ten. Eight or nine depending on your viewpoint,' Steve replied. 'First time when you were eleven, you got into a fight with a teacher and you actually appeared here for a second, but then you somehow killed him just by touching him, and then _he _landed up here instead. Then exactly a year later, a big snake mauled you and we were pretty sure you would soon be meeting up with us, but then an unheard-of creature, probably the only one in existence, saved you by crying all over you. And then, barely six months later, you fell a hundred feet off a broomstick. You were hovering between here and there for a week, if I'm not mistaken. All the people who died all over the world in that interval had a real bad experience in this place because of you. Next, next, where is it?' Steve asked himself, his eyes perusing the bottom of one of the pages. He turned the page and continued.

'Okay, next was when you were almost fifteen. You shot a disarming spell, of all things, against a _Killing Curse. _For a couple of moments, your whole body had appeared here and you were looking around. But then you went back to where you were, and in your place, the ghosts of one Cedric Diggory, Bertha Jorkins and Lily and James Potter appeared here. That _also_ scared the hell out of the two people who were here at the time, 'coz only solid, real bodies of people can turn up here. Nevertheless, you had a better record for the next two years. There was a time when you were nearing sixteen when we felt some foreign presence take over your body back on earth, while your soul made it over here. No one could see you, but we felt your presence as you were struggling to regain control over your mind. Again, you scared the poor people who were waiting here at the time. But you seemed to have gained some motivation from somewhere. You brought out some inner strength from Merl- god knows where and you fought him off. I must say, we really toasted you for that boy, we rarely see such courage and determination,' Steve said.

Harry didn't know what to say to that. Fortunately, Steve continued speaking.

'You can take that as a compliment, Mr. Potter, we rarely give them around here. So, moving on, your sixth year wasn't that bad per se. Oh,wait,wait you took a nasty one to your head again, which cracked your skull open. For normal people, that's fatal, but for you, it's routine.'

Harry grimaced as he remembered Cormac McLaggen's swipe at him. Steve continued.

'Then, the icing on the cake. Your would-be seventh year. First, you fought an aerial battle against your nemesis. We all thought he or his cronies would finally get you but then you produced the Aureus Flammare from your wand, something that Dumbledore could never do. Then, started the period of darkness. More and more half bloods and Muggle-borns were popping up over here. At around Christmas time, you decided to grace us again with your momentary presence. I think it was a snake again that did you in. But this time you were saved by your soulma- uh- a f-friend of yours.'

'You're right Steve, Harry was pretty lucky that time to be saved by young Miss Granger,' a female voice spoke and Harry looked to the side. Steve immediately stood up in respect for his superior and tilted his head slightly forward in a bow. Jenny merely gestured for Steve to sit down and smilingly took a seat in an opulent armchair she had just conjured for herself.

'But of course, Hermione was always there for you, whenever you needed help, whenever you needed support, whenever you needed saving or even whenever you just needed a biff up the hooter. Pity you never realised that,' she said sadly.

'What?! Of course I do! You have no idea-how much-how much I...,' Harry started angrily but then broke off, unable to complete the sentence.

'What? How much you what? Ignored her presence? Mocked her ideas? Chose Ron over her a countless number of times?!!' she snarled, disgust and fury evident on her face as she folded her hands in front of her and crossed her legs.

'I...I..' Harry started weakly, but even what little argument he had died down in his throat, as deep down in his heart he knew that Jenny was right. Over the last seven years, although he called both Ron and Hermione his best friends, his subconscious always placed Ron as his dearest, irreplaceable best friend and brother, while Hermione was subtly shunted into the background.

'She thought the broomstick was from Black and she cared enough to act on it, even though she knew you would probably get angry! She believed you about you not entering your name in that stupid tournament when _Ron _wouldn't even give you a second look! She bore all your temper tantrums and moods even though it was driving her up the wall! And why did she do that? Because she was in love with you, that's why!! But what did she get in return? All she got was your irony, your ridicule, and also the pleasure of seeing you go out with other girls. That's why she gave up on you, that's why-'

'She didn't,' Harry interrupted coldly, looking Jenny in the eye.

'Pardon me?' Jenny asked, while Steve looked on.

'She never gave up on me completely,' Harry said frigidly. 'I was a fool all this time, but I redeemed myself earlier this year. I know I'm in love with her too,' he said, his eyes reminiscent.

'But wasn't it a little too late for redemption? You could've had years together, years of loving each other, of knowing each other.. When you finally _did _understand, by that time, both of you had already chosen your path with other people. Both of you with the Weasleys. Do you even have an inkling of an idea what Hermione was feeling, the emotional turmoil she was going through when she decided she would stay with you to hunt Horcruxes rather than go with Ron? She was in love with you till some time previously, she gave up on you because you didn't give her a single opportunity for her to prove that she could be a suitable romantic possibility. She decided to set her heart on Ron to avoid any pain or trouble, as Ron also was her best friend ; plus he had certainly fancied her for more than two years by that time. And when the time came for her to choose between the same, what did she do? She chose you. And what did _you _do? You threw a blanket over her and went to sleep.'

'HEY!' Harry protested loudly, 'I realised some time later what Hermione truly was to me, and I went to her. I understood, I came to know at that crucial time!'

'Let me put it this way. You stalled right, you didn't go to her immediately as you very well should have, right?' Jenny asked challengingly.

'Well, no,' Harry said, but before he could say anything else, Jenny interrupted him again.

'Why? What was the reason for the delay?' Jinny asked.

'Well, it was...well all I could picture at that moment was Ron's contemptuous expression ridiculing both of us, and well... I guess I just sort of hesitated,' he said.

'Of course, Ron is always the first one to enter your thoughts, isn't he? It's like a bloody default setting : First Ron, then if time permits, Hermione! Ron just commits the most heinous of betrayals, when your other best friend unselfishly chooses you even though it was nearly killing her to do so, and you think about Ron and his FUCKING OPINIONS!' Jenny slammed her hand on the table with her last words, spittle flying out of her mouth ; her expression going tremondously angry again.

'No taking the name of our founder, our God, no allusions to any religion in any topic, and no utterances that will bring His Holy Wrath on thee,' Steve said, grinning broadly. 'Appendix B, Subunit 21, Paragraph a,' he added, tilting his head to the side.

Jenny glowered at Steve for a moment, before turning back to Harry.

'I apologise for my uncalled-for display of anger, but you know as well as I do that what I said was nothing but the truth,' Jenny said formally.

'Th-That's ok,' Harry said absently, running his palms slowly over his cheeks, silently contemplating Jenny's previous words.

'Anyway, let's move on,' Jenny said composedly, not even a trace of her previous anger visible. 'When Lord Voldemort struck you down in the forest, the wand he used for the purpose recognised two souls in the target it was about to strike. One was your soul, as unblemished as it was the day you were born, for the most part anyway, and the other soul was-'

'Hang on,' Harry butted in, 'What do you mean, 'for the most part'?' he asked.

'Well, um, when you lose your v-virtuousness, the soul doesn't become tainted, but it.. it does lose that slight shadow of ultimate purity it always had,' she said as quickly as possible, while Steve had already starting cracking up in the background.

Harry turned beetroot red and hoped Jenny wasn't expecting an answer from him. Luckily, she wasn't.

'So, the other soul was that fraction of Lord Voldemort's, highly blackened and tainted. The wand recognised you as its rightful master and was reluctant on hitting you, but luckily for you, it recognised that bit of Voldemort's. Knowing that you were his mortal enemy, and the fact that you had its allegiance, it killed the fraction of the soul in you and left you wounded, rather than dead. It didn't like being used against you, it acted of its own accord, and the unforeseen result of that was its echo hitting Voldemort as well, rendering him unconscious for the exact same period of time that you were,' Jenny explained.

'So, if it did not like the idea of killing me, why did it do so in the Great Hall?' Harry asked, just barely understanding Jenny's complicated explanation.

'Unfortunately for you, that was different. You must remember, Harry, the wand does choose the wizard as you may no doubt have heard. But the thing is, the wizard chooses what the wand has to do. Muggles have no idea of the existence of magic, they see it as an inexplicable mystic force that only the Supreme Beings are capable of performing. But we know different. We know for a fact that magic is just another form of energy. You can't create energy nor can you destroy it. Magic comes internally from us, but we can't create it elsewhere, nor can we destroy it, once created. Of course, we can destroy it with magic, but it won't be extinguished on its own.

'So, when you were hit by magic in the forest, the green energy _had _to destroy or terminate something, _anything._ Combining this with the fact that you had a piece of Voldemort's soul lodged in you, it killed that part completely, hence satisfying the law of conservation. But in the Great Hall, Voldemort's Killing Curse had to kill something, so it did, and that's why you landed up here,' Jenny finished sombrely.

'But, if I was truly the Master of the Elder Wand, shouldn't it have hit me and Voldemort as well?' Harry asked.

'Astute, Harry,' Jenny replied, a slight smile slowly making its way onto her face, 'You're absolutely right. As a matter of fact, it _did _rebound on Voldemort, but didn't kill him.'

'So he's unconscious?' Harry asked disbelievingly.

'Yes, and this time it's different. In that timeframe, in that Great Hall, you are officially dead. But yet there is something hanging over everyone's head that has in important role to play in this equation. Do you know what that is?' Jenny asked.

_'Hanging over someone's head, where have I heard that phrase before?' _Harry thought to himself. _'Hanging over my head, big burden...the-'_

'Prophecy!' he almost shouted out the last word, and then immediately groaned. _The bloody prophecy again._

'Don't be so upset over that, Harry. This thing just might be able to save everything, might be able to save the world as you know it. Do you remember what exactly the Prophecy states?'

'Yes, I do. It's been forefront in my mind for two painful years. It says that one of us had to die at the hands of the other, for neither could live while the other survived,' Harry said, wondering where this was going.

'Yes, that's the essence of it. Voldemort is now in that Great Hall, unconscious. The prophecy chose the final meeting you just had with him as the end, the destiny of the both of you. It chose that moment as the moment where it had to be satisfied ; not the time when you met him as a baby, not the time you met him in the graveyard, not any of the other numerous encounters you had with him during your school years, but _that _moment. So, the echo of his Killing Curse struck him as well, leaving him frozen. But you haven't woken like you did in the forest, which means that even he can't come out of his current state,' Jenny said.

'Not that I'm complaining or anything, but why didn't it just kill me like it was supposed to? Why do I still have a second chance, in spite of being hit?' Harry asked.

'Fate. Yes, you probably should've figured out by now who controls the answers to the many questions of life, the topic of destiny and other consequential matters? It's Fate, Harry. He is the one who decides and controls your destiny, everyone else's destiny. He does it in a most peculiar, yet fulfilling way. I presume that you, being a master of all three of them, know the Tale of the Deathly Hallows?'

'Yes, I do,' Harry replied quickly, his interest in the topic waxing with every moment.

'Death interacted with the creators of the Deathly Hallows, but their destiny, their future was controlled by Fate. Fate allowed the third brother, your own ancestor, to live. Fate controlled the future of the Hallows even after the brothers died. The most controversial of them, as you know, was the Wand of Destiny. Like everything else on earth, he controlled its successive possessors. He made sure that it passed on into various unsuspecting, some innocent, some greedy hands. He ensured that it reached Gellert Grindelwald, then Albus Dumbledore, then young Mr. Malfoy, and finally you. You may think it coincidental, but you are the only person in history to unite and wield all three Hallows at the same time. Fate chose it this way, he meant for it to happen this way and when he foretold the prophecy via your schoolteacher, he already knew the outcome. He decided that you would be the one the Chosen One, not Neville Longbottom, he decided that after long toil, after pain, you would be the winner. He made sure all three of the Hallows came to you so that Voldemort could be overthrown from his position of power. I cannot tell for sure though, whether he foresaw this complication, or whether he thought that you would kill Voldemort outright in the Great Hall,' Jenny said.

'Ookaay,' Harry said, stunned into silence, still eagerly waiting to hear how everything would be resolved.

'So, the fact that it was a Deathly Hallow that contributed to Voldemort's coma and your apparent demise, gives you another chance. A chance to make things right. Fate always controlled the Hallows, and now that is coming into play. His decision is overriding Voldemort's actions. If Voldemort had used anything else as a means of your destruction, say impaling you with the sword of Gryffindor, you would be dead, and catastrophically, Fate wouldn't be able to do anything further,' Jenny said.

'So I'm getting a chance, a fair chance to get everything straight,' Harry asked, needing another confirmation.

'Yes,' Jenny replied.

'So how does that work?' Harry asked, euphoria rising within him abruptly, unable to believe he had somehow lucked out again.

'You see, the prophecy chose that specific moment for its completion. Until then, both of you could be living and breathing at the same time. But, now if you go back to that timeline, Voldemort will become conscious again, which means that both of you are alive. That cannot happen under any circumstances,' Jenny said.

'So what happens?' Harry asked.

'You heard me clear. You will be unable to go back to that _timeline,' _Jenny hinted.

'So..um... you're sending me to a different world, no wait, scratch that, a different time, to..to...'

'That's right Harry, you'll be going back into a particular time in your life, from where hopefully you'll be able to complete the terms of the Prophecy.'

'Okay, that's great... so where-'

'But there are some things I have to tell you before that happens, Harry,' Jenny said.

'Okay, what are they?' Harry asked urgently, fervently wanting to bring an end to the conversation now that he had gotten all his questions cleared and that he knew what he was going to be doing.

'First of all, this time travelling you're going to be doing leaves the old, original frame active, yet untouched. So, think of it as a picture that a Muggle camera can take. It's inanimate, it doesn't move. The scene where Voldemort and you curse each other with all the defendants of the school and the Dark Army watching intently, that scene will now be photographed and preserved. It will not proceed just yet. However, in the new timeline, if you again die before Voldemort does, that path, all the sequence of events that lead to that will be obliterated, and this photograph will activate immediately. Voldemort strikes you down in the Great Hall and he lives, claiming all the three Hallows as his own. He lives and you die. You know what that means, right?' Jenny asked.

Gulping nervously, Harry nodded in affirmation.

'So this is your last chance, the world's last chance. Even Fate can't help you if you fall in the new timeline before Voldemort does.'

'What happens if I kill Voldemort in the new timeframe?' Harry asked.

'The converse,' was all Jenny said.

'So, that means...that means I live my life from there and all the horrors of the present timeline are wiped off the map?' Harry asked.

Jenny nodded.

'There is another thing. This turn of events may lead to another potential disaster. In the new timeline, at least till Voldemort's demise, if there is any living being that continues to live even though he or she has died in the previous timeline, the consequences for you will be severe. You will survive for a maximum of two or three days from that point, after which you will succumb. And trust me, that will be a painful death. Oh yeah, if any one dies when he or she lived in the previous timeline, then the same thing will happen to you and the old photograph will activate immediately after your death. Am I clear?' Jenny asked sternly.

'Yes, all clear,' Harry replied.

'This is simply because the forking of the roads that we are creating, is a response to the question of your fate and Voldemort's as well. It's between you and him. No one else's mortality should be affected.'

'I understand,' Harry replied, getting up, knowing it was time.

'One last thing,' Jenny said, 'It's not exactly to do with this mission, but-'

'But what?' Harry asked.

'You always were a good friend to Hermione. But this time, please be her best friend first, please have her as your first priority, not anyone else?' she asked pleadingly.

'I...I don-' Harry started, but was cut off by Jenny.

'Just tell me something, okay? Just answer my question first,' Jenny said, and Harry wordlessly indicated for her to proceed.

'You remember hen you were at your parent's graves?' Jenny asked.

Harry nodded again, unable to understand what Jenny was getting at.

'Voldemort had already taken over the Ministry, the entire country. You were in hiding, you were hurting over your parent's graves, you were hurting over betrayal, fear of defeat, you were miserable. You didn't have anything to hang onto, no one to restore your confidence in the Horcrux mission, to hold you and tell you that things would get better, no parents, no Weasleys, no Sirius, not even Dumbledore, no one in the world, except-'

'_Hermione_,' Harry gasped, his body suddenly going numb, not able to think anymore, comprehension dawning upon him like the strike of thunder.

'Yes, Harry. Hermione. _Hermione. _No one else. For you, it was only Hermione at that time, as always. When will you understand, that's all you need in life, that Hermione is enough for you?' Jenny was now crying, looking despairingly at Harry, but plowed on in spite of herself.

'When will you realise that she's everything to you, that she has everything that you could possibly need in your life?' Jenny sobbed, and even normal, upbeat Steve looked pained. Harry couldn't breath, he felt as though someone had reached into him and grasped his heart, twisting it even tighter with every word that came out of Jenny's mouth. He brushed away his own tears, which were falling thick and fast, as he asked himself the same thing. _Why had he not realised? He was friends with them, but he didn't absolutely need people like Ron, Ginny or anyone else , Hermione was everything! She was his constant, his friend, his lover, his-_

'Soulmate,' Jenny finished softly. 'Your soulmate. I'm glad you understood at last. There's nothing else to do here,' she whispered, getting up from her seat, wiping her eyes dry.

She walked towards Harry and held his hand. 'Come,' she stated and Harry said bye to Steve, who gave him a two-finger salute in return.

Feeling slightly better, Harry walked away, Jenny in tow.

Again, they walked through what a veil of silver mist, before Jenny stopped.

'Good luck, Harry. Be safe,' Jenny breathed, looking at Harry emotionally.

'I don't know what's going to happen now, I don't know what kind of events will unfold, but I promise you here, I swear on my blood that I will show Hermione what exactly she means to me. I will show her how much I value her, how much I love her. Things will change ; I swear it,' Harry snarled, his jaw set and his teeth clenched, a steely glint of determination in his eyes as he looked unflinchingly at Jenny, daring her to even think of contradicting him.

Jenny smiled at him for a second, hopeful, and then steered Harry towards what appeared to be the centre of the mysterious room.

'So where in time am I landing up?' Harry asked, his voice dulcet again.

'You'll find out in a minute,' Jenny said. 'All I can tell you is that you'll go back to the time when the first significant step had just been taken. A time when something big had just happened. You'll understand when you get there,' Jenny said, waving at him.

Harry's mind was now working overtime. _When something big had just happened? What did that mean? Did that mean he was going back to Halloween night at Godric's Hollow, just after his parents got murdered?_

He opened his mouth to communicate to Jenny, he signaled to her, he tried anything that would attract her attention, but he felt himself suffocating, he felt himself falling for some reason, and then there was only darkness.

AN - Aureus Flammare = Golden Flames in Latin

Big treat for anyone who can decipher Jenny's hint, and guess where Harry lands up. I also look forward to any feedback from you guys about my explanation for Harry's death, and whether you guys were able to spot any loopholes in the same area/

Cheers!


	3. Where Harry Landed Up

For a minute, it seemed Harry couldn't open his eyes no matter how hard he tried. All he could hear was the steady trickle of water from somewhere. He lay like that till he heard a soft, feminine moan.

He tried opening his eyes again, and this time they opened. His vision was blurry because his glasses were cracked, so he took his wand out and muttered a spell that Hermione had used so many times on him.

His vision instantly clearing, he found that he was lying down on a wet, dirty cement surface. He got up unsteadily and looked around. His heart beating thunderously, he saw the tall, noble countenance of Salazar Slytherin looking on sternly, with the body of a huge snake lying down at what would have been his feet.

Then it struck him : He was at the Chamber of Secrets, he had just fought the basilisk tooth and nail, and now he was lying injured. Or was he? Pulling up his sleeve where he remembered the snake had bit him last time, he saw nothing. That meant he had also been healed. He heard another soft, female cry.

He looked down, and for the first time he noticed the hunched form of Ginny Weasley on the floor of the Chamber. For some reason she was crying.

Remembering that last time Ginny was terrified that she was going to be expelled, Harry said nothing ; but instead picked her up slowly, gently telling her that she couldn't be blamed for what had happened.

But to his surprise, Ginny shook her head firmly, and clung to him tighter.

'What's wrong then Ginny?' he asked, frowning.

'It's-It's- Oh, Harry, it's just that you're so brave! I can't believe you would go through all of that for me! You were awake after you killed the basilisk and then that, that ph-phoenix creature healed you, but instead of getting better, you fell! I thought it had poisoned you or something! I was so worried that-'

Harry snorted. Fawkes, poisoning him? How dumb was that? He opened his mouth to say just that, but then stopped himself in the nick of time. He made up his mind that he would treat the Weasleys' the same way he always did, he would only be significantly different with Hermione. Besides, Ginny was unconscious when Fawkes blinded the basilisk and gave him the hat to pull out the sword.

'I'm all right, Ginny, he's gone,' Harry replied, and as he said it, he understood what Jenny meant by ''returning to a moment when the first significant step had just been taken''. The first Horcrux, the first obstacle in the long, winding and ultimately unsuccessful journey he had trodden upon, had just been destroyed. But just to play it safe, he decided to confirm it.

'Ginny, what were the things you heard and felt before you woke up?' Harry asked cautiously.

'Um..I felt kind-kind of released and I heard screams in the back of my head. And then when the last scream stopped, I woke up,' Ginny said quietly.

Harry heaved a huge sigh of relief when he heard Ginny's words. The Horcrux had been destroyed, and now there was one more waiting at Hogwarts, ready-to-destroy.

'You're not developing a fever are you Harry, I don't know anything about big sixty-foot snakes, but I'm sure they're poisonous,' Ginny said, bringing her hand to Harry's forehead, feeling it, while not taking her eyes off Harry's.

'No---you're fine, my hero,' she said softly, her fingers trailing down Harry's dirt-stained face, finally cupping his chin.

Harry quickly moved away trying to make light of the situation. He would not allow any woman to touch him like that, not Ginny, not Cho. Only Hermione, if she was willing to, would be allowed to do as she pleased with him. He felt himself stirring at the way those last words sounded in his mind. He frowned thoughtfully. He had a seventeen-year old mind in his twelve-year old body, and apparently he had the seventeen-year old hormones too.

'Harry...?' Ginny said, shaking him from his thoughts.

'I'm sorry Ginny. I have to tell you now, I don't want to hurt you, but nothing can happen between us. I just think of you as Ron's sister, and by extension, my little sister,' Harry said, quickly wanting to destroy this disastrous mistake he had made in his last lifetime.

'Harry, I didn't mean it that way, I was really just thankful,' Ginny lied, fighting to prevent the tears that were pooling in her eyes.

'Okay then, as long as we're on the same page then,' Harry said, relieved. Anyway, the last time, Ginny just had a crush on him at this stage. She had never acted on it.

'Where is Fawkes anyway?' Harry asked, looking around the chamber. He walked towards the basilisk and took a look at its fangs.

'I don't know, I thought it would be able to get us out of this place,' Ginny said, staring after him wistfully.

Harry didn't say anything in response, his mind was working furiously. The corpse was too fresh and wet and bloody, he really didn't fancy plucking off any of its teeth right now. Even though it was useful for destroying something as important as Voldemort's soul fragments, he really didn't favour being a basilisk's dentist, with or without wand. He would have to wait for it to dry. Which meant he would have to come back later.

Which also brought him to another predicament. Would he able to come back? Did he know Parselmouth? The answer to that depended on whether he was still a Horcrux or not. He had his old personality and mind, but not body. Which meant he was only physically changed. That should mean that the Horcrux in him was destroyed. All the same he had to be sure.

'Serpensortia!' he said, pointing his wand, and then he immediately regretted it. No altering the status of life and death for any living thing, Harry thought. Which meant that he had to vanish this snake quickly.

He tried talking to it. He hissed in every way he could, till the snake simply ignored him and slithered away.

He quickly aimed a small stone at it, hitting it on its tail. The snake stopped and hissed furiously at him. It was a common garden snake, and that boded well for him. If his spell had given rise to an anaconda, there would be no escape.

Harry pointed his wand and vanished it without further ado.

This meant he wasn't a Horcrux anymore. He remembered what Ron did last time to get into the chamber. Grinning broadly at the idea of seeing everyone safe and sound again, he mindlessly transfigured another stone into a broomstick and walked away, looking for Ginny.

He found her at the entrance, where she was being hugged by a relieved Ron.

'Thanks for saving her, Harry,' Ron said gratefully as they hugged.

'No problem mate,' Harry replied, as he showed them the broomstick they could escape on.

'You found a broomstick there?' Ron asked.

'No, I just transfigured a stone I found,' Harry said, guiding them to the hole they had come from.

Both Ron and Ginny's jaws dropped to the floor. They stared at him, Ron in envy and Ginny in awe.

'You transfigured it?!' Ron said, after a shocked moment of silence, 'That's a sixth or seventh year level transfiguration!'

'Ron, relax, I was just kidding. I found it in the other side of the chamber,' he gestured, while making another mental note to himself. His magical potential now easily crossed that of any student in Hogwarts, and he would have to cut down on everything except the normal stuff he was taught in school.

'Oh,' they said together and Ron added, 'You scared me there mate! For a moment I thought you were turning into Hermione.'

'Is there anything wrong with acting more like Hermione? She's the smartest person we know,' Harry snapped out, unable to stop himself.

Ginny glared at him for a moment and then cleared her throat. Ron had a surprisingly thoughtful expression on his face, something that was rare in itself.

'No, of course not, come on, let's get going,' Ron quickly said, wondering when Harry had gotten so defensive of Hermione. He felt a slight pang of bitterness hit him at that thought.

Shrugging it off, he took the broom in his hands and turned to Harry and Ginny.

'Think we can do this all in one trip guys?' Ron asked.

'Yeah, we can manage,' Harry said.

'Okay then, Ginny, you're in the middle. Harry, you're the best flier among us, so you take the front,' Ron said.

They got on the broom and it started very violently, nearly throwing them off. Ginny immediately found an excuse to throw her arms around Harry.

She sighed softly as her head went against his back. Only a little sister to him, was she? She would show him...

*

They dismounted in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and quickly ran out, so as not to be disturbed by the infuriating ghost. They ran to Dumbledore's office, causing disapproving stares from nearly every portrait they passed.

Harry knocked twice and then went in, Ron and Ginny behind him. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk and for Harry, this was much more refreshing than anything he had experienced in a long time. Hogwarts with Professor Albus Dumbledore. This was how it was supposed to be.

He took a long time appreciating the fact that Dumbledore was still hale and hearty as he looked at the ancient, knowing face of his headmaster ; the gold rimmed half-moon spectacles and his ever-knowing twinkling blue eyes.

Dumbledore got up and Harry noticed that he wanted to say something. He cleared his throat softly and Mrs. Weasley finally loosened her grip on her daughter. Dumbledore offered everyone a lemon drop. Harry smiled. Dumbledore always did this before discussing the matter at hand. Both of Dumbledore's hands were whole and unblemished and Harry watched as Dumbledore popped the candy into his mouth as everyone refused.

Harry listened almost disinterestedly as Ron recounted the tale of everything they had figured out, how they went into Myrtle's bathroom, how the Memory Charm backfired on Lockhart, which caused Harry to shout in shock.

'SIR! Lockhart! We forgot him there! Ron, can you believe it?' Harry asked.

'Glad to see you've been keeping up with the story, Harry,' Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling madly.

'After you went in there, I was clearing some of those rocks and he wandered off. I-I kind of... forgot about him and then the broomstick you gave us at the end barely fit three people, so..' Ron trailed off, guiltily.

'A broomstick?' Dumbledore said, now sitting up and looking directly at Ron. 'Where did the broomstick come from?'

Ron went to the entrance and brought the broom he had kept there to Dumbledore. 'Sir, Harry found one in the chamber and we flew back up on it,' Ron said, handing Dumbledore the broom.

'Hmm, interesting things can indeed be found in the chamber, can't they Mr. Potter?' Dumbledore muttered, surveying Harry over the top of his half-moon spectacles.

'Yes, Professor,' Harry said firmly, and then quickly averted his eyes from his headmaster's.

Dumbledore half grinned, half frowned for a moment before proclaiming that there would be no punishment for Ginny, as she had been hoodwinked by a very powerful wizard.

'And now Molly, Arthur, if you would kindly escort your daughter to wherever she pleases? I'm sure that no one will say anything if you want to spend the rest of the day with her.'

'Of course, Albus, thank you,' Molly said, and then hugged Harry as hard as she could. 'And thank you, Harry! You saved my baby! Thank you so much,' she said, now on the verge of tears.

'Thank you again, Harry,' Ginny said, in what she hoped would be a cute, innocent voice, before hugging him briefly.

Harry stiffened and quickly broke the hug. 'You're welcome, Ginny,' was all he said, before turning to the Weasley patriarch. Arthur patted him on the back and thanked him quietly. The three of them turned to leave.

'Oh and Harry? We'll let you know about staying at our house this summer, okay?' Mrs. Weasley said, while Ginny beamed.

'All tight, thanks Mrs. Weasley,' Harry said, and they left.

Which left him, Ron and Dumbledore.

'Mr. Weasley, if you would take these papers to the Owlery. Any owl will take it. I believe we need our gamekeeper back,' Dumbledore said, handing over a sheaf of papers tied together with a ribbon that seemed to have the official Ministry logo incised all over it.

Ron looked at Harry for a moment before taking the papers and departing from the office.

'So, Harry, I seemed to remember that I said I would expel you or your friends if I found any more evidence of rule breaking?' Dumbledore asked, raising his eyebrows.

'Yes Professor,' Harry muttered tonelessly ; he knew he would be getting four hundred points instead.

'Well, I'll have to eat my words, and only this once,' Dumbledore said, a smile slowly unfurling on his wizened face. 'I propose to give two hundred points to all three of you. You, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. In addition to Special Awards for Services to the School to both you and Miss Granger,' Dumbledore finished.

'Thank you sir,' Harry said. He thought he would have to fake a look of surprise and excitement but found that he didn't need to. Dumbledore had changed his reward significantly this time and Harry wondered why. Already there were a few changes. Lockhart had been left behind. The phoenix had disappeared. Only three, but they had happened in a span of fifteen minutes. How many more things would change?

Dumbledore brought him out of his musings. 'Ah, I see young Lucius has just entered the gates to come and greet me. I want to be spared from that pleasure, so, Harry, I think it best we leave.'

'Leave?' Harry repeated.

'Yes, I think you should go back to your common room and have some rest if you desire it. BY all means, avoid the main corridor if you wish to avoid Mr. Malfoy. Take one of the many shortcuts you surely know of. I shall go and bring back our poor Defense Professor.'

Harry grinned and made his way to the door along with Dumbledore.

'Sir, aren't you going with Fawkes?' Harry asked, when he saw the golden bird still perched in his cage.

'No, Harry, I think it will be his burning day soon, and besides, I would love to test out this enchanting broomstick that you have brought me. Fascinating that it would appear there in the chamber of all places, isn't it Harry?' Dumbledore asked, peering intently at Harry again.

'Hmm, pretty cool Professor,' Harry replied and quickly made his way away from Dumbledore to avoid any other fascination expressed by the latter over the broomstick.

'Good evening, Professor,' Harry said, and left, completely intent on taking the main corridor that led to the front doors of Hogwarts. He took out one of his socks and stuffed it in between the diary of Tom Riddle. As expected, he walked into the arrogant, sneering form of Lucius Malfoy, a cowering and truly terrified Dobby walking behind him.

'Mr. Malfoy,' Harry said crisply, inclining his head in a mock show of respect.

'Mr. Potter,' he sneered, looking down at him with adeptly disguised loathing.

'This is the vermin that serves me. Its name is Dobby,' he said, kicking Dobby hard on his back and Dobby rolled a few times, before stopping and gasping painfully.

'Get back here to your master, Dobby!' Lucius hissed. 'At once!'

Crying softly, Dobby limped over to him.

'You did not come at once as I commanded. Punish yourself!' Lucius spat, his eyes filled with a cold contempt as he watched Dobby willingly oblige.

Dobby started banging his head on the floor repeatedly, before Lucius placed one foot on his head and looked at Harry.

'This is how they are meant to be, Mr. Potter. Their only purpose in their pitiable excuse for a life is to serve us,' he finished aristocratically.

'Lovely,' Harry said, sarcasm oozing from his tone. 'I would hate to pretend to you that I am enjoying this conversation, or disgusting display of undeserved power as I prefer to call it, but I came here for a reason. I didn't come here to exchange pleasantries with a member of Voldemort's inner circle, I just came here to give you this,' he said coolly, thrusting the diary into his hand.

'What the-?' Lucius snarled, both at Harry's accusation and his action. 'A diary?' he asked, holding it up, before tossing it to Dobby.

'That was your return gift for being a faithful dog to Voldemort all along, wasn't it?' Harry asked, still maintaining his pleasant charade in spite of himself.

'How dare you, Potter?' Lucius snarled furiously, before turning to Dobby.

'Dobby,' he commanded, 'Show the young man what can happen to him when I am angered!'

He turned to Harry again. 'People have gone out of their way to anger me before. But after they do so the first time, they go out of their way to please me. You're just another one of the many fools I'll be stepping on, Potter,' he hissed, menace never leaving his eyes.

'You've been watching too many dramatic movies, Mr. Malfoy,' Harry said, still smiling, knowing that would anger the older Malfoy even further. 'Too many action movies with a lot of trashy dialogue. You must not be getting any action from your wife if you do that in your free time, do you?' Harry said.

Lucius roared this time and took out his wand. 'Dobby!' he shouted, now aiming another kick at Dobby's head. It connected and Dobby fell to the floor, bleeding. Lucius stood on him and hissed, 'I thought I told you to take care of him? Are you going to continue to let him insult your Master or are you going to do something about it?'

'Why don't you pick on someone your own size and _you _do something about it, fuckweed?' Harry said, anger now creeping into his tone. 'Dobby, open the book,' Harry said loudly.

Dobby, who was struggling to breathe under his Master's full weight, opened the book with a quivering hand and gasped at what he saw.

'Now Lucius, be a good Death Eater and get the fuck off of my friend,' Harry snapped, wondering if it was a good idea to provoke Lucius in the first place as his anger was reaching dangerously uncontrollable levels.

Lucius didn't have time to do so as he was expelled violently across the length of the corridor with one flick of Dobby's wrist.

Snarling, he took one hard look at Dobby, before walking to Harry. Dobby instantly placed himself in between them, but Lucius spat on him.

'I'm not harming his worthless hide, you fool,' Lucius hissed, before looking Harry dead in the eye.

'Your filthy parents were meddlesome fools too. And what happened to them? They were begging for mercy when he killed them. You'll meet the same sticky end as them one of these days, Potter. I assure you of it,' he whispered dangerously.

'You've scared me, Mr. Malfoy, sir,' Harry stammered, sarcasm again dripping from his tone, 'What am I supposed to do to avoid a sticky death? Should I fall at your feet and vow to lick Voldemort's snakey half-blood arse as faithfully as you have?' he said, sticking his tongue out and hissing.

Lucius said nothing but pushed him roughly out of the way and walked down the corridor briskly.

'Dumbledore's waiting in his office for your visit!' Harry hollered out. 'The password is Purebloods are gay!'

'I hope you're happy, Dobby,' Harry said gently, kneeling down so that he was at level with Dobby.

'Thank you so much, Harry Potter sir, I always knew of your greatness, your power, your bravery, your kindness, but now I's seen them all, sir! Thank you!' he cried before hugging Harry very tightly.

'Dobby, I consider you a friend and that's why I did that for you. It's because you're a good person, no matter what people like Malfoy think,' Harry said seriously.

Dobby burst out into even more tears at this, and Harry heard none of his mutterings except a few words like 'Harry Potter sir', 'noble', 'so kind' strung in between.

'Dobby,' Harry said seriously, 'Would you like to work for me?'

Dobby pulled away from him and looked at him with wide eyes for a moment, as if unable to believe it.

'Master is willing to hire Dobby?' Dobby asked softly.

'Yes, I am, Dobby. But I have a few conditions that you must follow at all times during your tenure.'

'Name them, Harry Potter sir!' Dobby squealed in joy, 'I shall serve my new, great master to the fullest. I shall not fail to please my new mast-'

'Wait Dobby,' Harry said, holding a finger up to silence him. 'I am quite sure you will carry out your duties admirably. I have no doubt about that. My conditions are different. The first one is, you will accept wages and sick leaves and all other benefits a normal person does. The second is, you'll call me Harry and not Master or sir. The third : You are never, ever to punish yourself even if you have made a mistake somewhere. Is that clear?'

'Yes! Master Harry Potter sir, thank you for hiring Dobby! Master will not regret it, I promise. I-'

'Dobby, the second condition?' Harry reminded.

'Oh, I am sorry, I shouldn't have-' he proceeded to bang his head on the ground a good five times on the ground, but Harry stopped him in time.

'Dobby, the third condition?' Harry asked, humour in his tone.

Dobby grinned shamefully and then hugged Harry again. Harry was brought to tears, not by Dobby's show of gratitude, but by what Dobby had done in another lifetime. He remembered as the little elf cast away all fear and entered his former master's home to save them all. He remembered as her knife went straight through Dobby, effectively impaling him.

'How much wages is I to be getting mast-Harry?' Dobby asked.

'Hermione Granger will decide that,' Harry said, thinking fondly of his beautiful, now thirteen-year old lover. 'Dobby, are the Mandrakes ready?'

'I is not sure, Harry. But I is wanting to meet some of my elf friends in the kitchens. Can I take Master's permission to visit them and then find out about the Mandrakey's? Dobby asked, bowing low.

'No problem, Dobby,' Harry said almost absentmindedly, thinking that he would visit the Hospital Wing to see Hermione for the first time.

'Thank you, Master,' Dobby said respectfully, and vanished. Harry shook his head in amusement. Getting Dobby to stop calling him Master would be really difficult.

He decided to proceed to the Hospital Wing immediately. He felt his nerves tighten as he walked along the sparsely-occupied corridors of Hogwarts. He was going to see Hermione and he had no idea what he was going to do or say. However, he was stopped on his way by a familiar voice.

'Where are you going, Harry?'

AN - Hope you liked this one and please review to tell me what you think..

The next chapter is 'First Day of a New Life'. Harry goes to Hermione and reacts to her awakening. Two young Weasley's aren't too happy about it.....


	4. First Day of a New Life

Chapter 4 – First Day of a New Life

Harry turned around. It was Ron and Ginny. He sighed. Hoping this wasn't the start of anything remotely fractious, he walked closer to them.

'I was making my way to the Hospital Wing,' he said, looking only at Ron.

'Why, Harry? Were you hurt? Is there some injury you haven't been telling us about? Is it-' Ginny fired off rapidly, but Harry cut in.

'It's Hermione,' he said baldly, finally looking at Ginny and the reactions of the two young Weasleys was immediate.

Ron's face went red, almost as red as his hair, and Ginny's face took a barely detectable convoluted expression ; something that shouldn't have been present on any twelve-year old girl's face.

'Why are you going though?' Ginny asked plainly.

'Why? What do you mean why?' Harry started furiously, 'Why not? She's my best friend, and now that all danger is gone I'm sure they'd be administering the Mandrake solution freely! She's gonna wake up soon.'

'Nah, Ginny didn't mean it like that, Harry. We assumed you'll visit her after she's awake and in a state to interact, that's all,' Ron assured, although Harry swore he spotted a flash of resentment in Ron's eyes.

'Okay then, right, I'll get going,' Harry said, clapping Ron on the shoulder.

'We'll come with you, you're right, even I want to see Hermione,' Ron said, trotting along.

'You don't have to if you don't want to, Ginny,' Harry said, not wanting Ginny to tag along.

'Oh, that's alright, I want to come, Hermione's my friend too,' she said.

_'Oh yeah, tell me her middle name.'_

They walked to the Hospital wing, encountering only Peeves on the way, who strangely enough, had two watermelons in his hands.

Being thankfully ignored by him, they entered the Hospital wing where they saw all the patients who had been petrified lying in a row of beds. On looking around, they found Madame Pomfrey in her office, stirring something rapidly in a tall, round-bottomed pewter cauldron.

'Visit whoever you want, don't bother me, and don't you dare slap any of them!' she said agitatedly, not even looking up at them.

Harry and Ron exchanged a bewildered look, before Harry voiced out their question.

'Why would we be slapping any of them, Professor?'

'Don't you ask me that, you're Gryffindors, I'm sure you wouldn't do anything. But the thing is, some Slytherins have been by recently to 'visit their petrified friends'.'

'What?!' Harry roared, unable to believe their nerve.

'Yes, they've become pretty brave since Dumbledore left, and their number has increased by leaps and bounds since they said your sister was taken,' Pomfrey indicated to Ron, before continuing her vigorous stirring. She quickly pushed Ginny aside and took a bucket of what appeared to be some dead animal's remains and dumped its entire contents into the cauldron, and then continued stirring the mixture.

'I'm glad to see you're safe by the way, Miss Weasley, I'm just operating on a tight schedule. The Mandrakes have developed much faster than I expected them to, and now that they have, I can give the poor souls their path to recovery,' she said, smelling the cauldron as she talked.

'Did they attack any of them?' Harry hissed, his fists clenching.

'What? Oh yes, nothing major, but a few stunning curses and Boxing Charms... they've been soundly punished by Professor McGonagall, I assure you,' she said.

'WHAT?! Did they touch Hermione?!' Harry snarled, his eyes darkening. If he found out that they laid one hand on her precious body, even one single finger...

'No, Mr. Potter, I assure you they didn't. People honestly thought you were the Heir of Salazar, some of them were quite sure you were taming the beast, they hesitated in the whole region around Miss Granger's bed and that of Mr. Creevey's,' she said.

'When can they be cured and are you sure they didn't harm Hermione?' Harry fired off, either not noticing or not caring that the elderly matron was too tired and too busy to answer any more of his questions.

'Yes, _I'm sure_, Mr. Potter and I should be done by the end of the day, if the three of you stop pestering me, that is,' she stated, and she walked into the storeroom.

Harry gave a shout of apology and gratitude and he rushed back into the patients' wing.

Running to Hermione's bed, he held her cold, limp hand and inspected her face for any wounds or injuries. Ron and Ginny looked on, identical frowns on their faces.

'She's fine Harry,' Ginny said exhaustedly, looking sourly at what was going on, as if wanting to wrench Harry's hand away from Hermione's, 'Madame Pomfrey was sure no one harmed her!'

'I'm just making sure. If any of those crooks even touched her...' Harry trailed off, his eyes trailing down the length of her arms.

Finally, being partly satisfied with Hermione's physical condition and mainly uncomfortable under Ron and Ginny's baleful presence, Harry stepped back and took a crumpled parchment out of his pocket. Slightly opening the fingers of her clenched hand, he stuffed the paper and closed her fingers to the best he could.

'What's that?' Ginny asked suspiciously, raising her eyebrows.

'It's what saved your life,' Harry shot out, looking down at Hermione. She was as beautiful as she was before, as innocent, as pretty...

'I think we should leave,' Ron said, 'Madame Pomfrey said she was busy.'

'Yeah, we should,' Ginny quickly added, not liking the way Harry was looking at Hermione.

'You guys go, I'm gonna stay here for some time,' Harry said, taking a seat at Hermione's bedside.

'But, Harry, Madame Pomfrey-'

'She just told us not to disturb her, she didn't say anything about visiting hours,' Harry interrupted.

'Yeah-Yeah I guess,' Ron said uncertainly.

Ginny scowled in lieu of a response, and the siblings exited the room.

Harry sighed again and got up. This time, he sat down on her bed, in the space she wasn't occupying.

He held one of her hands with both of his. Rubbing it softly, he looked at Hermione. Why had he never noticed how beautiful she was before? Why hadn't he viewed her as a girl who could be, no- would be his life partner? Was he that daft? He had ignored something so priceless, so unique, so valuable...

No matter, he thought to himself reassuringly. He had his second chance. Thanking Jenny in his mind and remembering what he had sworn, he bent forward and brushed his lips softly against Hermione's.

Slowly withdrawing, he looked into her lovely chocolate orbs and muttered, 'I keep my promises, Hermione. After you wake up, I'll be the best friend you can ever ask for. My priorities are different this time. I've been blessed, I've been given a second chance to make things right. Not many people get such second chances.'

He tucked a tendril softly behind her hair and entwined his fingers with hers. He didn't know how long he sat there, watching her beautiful, petrified form, but he remembered planting another soft kiss on her forehead before he silently left.

He walked through the portrait hole to meet an empty common room. Looking at his watch, he saw it was past midnight. Ron and Ginny hadn't stayed up, waiting for him. He was partly glad for that, they hadn't seemed too pleased with his going to the Hospital wing in the first place.

He silently entered his dormitory and made his way to his bed. He lay there deep in thought. He remembered how he had failed to procure the Sword under the eyes of a slightly suspicious Dumbledore.

_Harry and Dumbledore made their way out of the latter's office. For a brief moment, Harry thought he could get away with the Sword, but that was ludicrous._

_'You can leave the Sword on the table, Harry. I'll put it along with the Sorting Hat later,' Dumbledore said lightly._

_'Oh, forgot, sure, Professor,' Harry said with a sinking heart. That ruled out the idea of him destroying Horcruxes with the Sword, in addition to the fangs._

_He placed it respectfully on the middle of Dumbledore's table, his eyes briefly spotting an array of peculiar instruments that he had once destroyed._

_'Professor, I would like to keep the diary for some time,' Harry said, turning back to the Headmaster._

_'By all means, do so, Harry. There is no evil left in it. However, may I presume that you are keeping it to return it gracefully to Mr. Malfoy?' he asked, his eyes twinkling again._

_'You presumed correctly, Professor,' Harry returned with a grin._

_Dumbledore only chuckled._

He thought of everything that had happened since his 'reawakening'. He slowly fell into a peaceful slumber, his first evening of his second life drawing to an end.

The first night of his new life gave him some uneasy dreams. Dreams of stealing Gryffindor's sword from Dumbledore's office, not unlike what Ginny Weasley had once done in a different timeline. Dreams of an impending rift between him and the Weasleys. Dreams of an attractive brown-eyed brunette. Dreams of him dying in unforeseen, odd ways and then Rita Skeeter coming up and declaring that this picture was to be discarded.....

He woke up very late the next day. Quickly having a shower and putting on some fresh clothes, he went down to breakfast. Ron was sitting alone at one end of the table, reading a Quidditch magazine. Thankfully, Ginny was nowhere in sight.

He wordlessly sat down and took a muffin.

Ron looked at him for a moment and then asked, 'What time did you get in last night?'

'Around elevenish,' Harry said, pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice.

'I stayed up for you till then. Me and Ginny were both awake till around a quarter past eleven,' he said.

'Must have just missed you,' Harry shrugged, hoping that his lack of interest in the topic was evident.

Ron said nothing, he just took five more eggs and continued reading his magazine.

'Did Dumbledore say anything about the petrified victims?' Harry asked.

'What? Oh yeah. He did. He said something along the lines of them being revived today evening.'

'Right.'

Not knowing what else to say, Harry fiddled with his bacon, before wolfing it down with a buttered slice of toast. Finishing his pumpkin juice, he got up.

'Why are you leaving?' Ron asked, looking up from his magazine.

'Because...I finished my breakfast?'

'Just hang on for two minutes. You up for a game of pickup Quidditch? We're leaving tomorrow afternoon, and we'll be busy packing tomorrow morning, so the guys decided to have one now.'

'Um..Ron, I'm feeling pretty tired. I thought I'll sleep for some more time and then start packing, I don't want to keep it till the last minute,' Harry lied. He actually wanted to be left in peace in the dorms so that he could start planning his strategy for the Horcruxes and everything else.

'Oh, come on mate. Loosen up. Only someone like Hermione wouldn't leave her packing till the last minute... In fact if she wasn't petrified, I'm sure she would have already finished her packing by now!' Ron chortled, obviously expecting Harry to join in on the joke. Harry didn't.

'She never goes through tension on the final day like us, it's because she does her packing beforehand,' Harry said firmly.

'Urr...right,' Ron said, looking thoughtfully at Harry. 'So, you're coming right?' he added, more a statement than a question.

Harry pondered for a moment. He made up his mind that he would spend as little time as possible with Ginny and that Hermione would come first for him, not Ron. That didn't mean he had to be rude to Ron and consequently ignore him.

'All right, I'll play Seeker for one side,' Harry said, sitting down again.

'Great! Let me just finish my breakfast and I'll rope in Dean and Seamus,' Ron said enthusiastically, attacking his eggs with renewed vigour.

Harry watched disgustedly as pieces of bacon fell out of Ron's mouth at regular intervals and juice leaked down his already grimy shirt.

At long last, they made their way out of the Great Hall and went out onto the grounds, where they met up with their classmates, who were already choosing teams on the Quidditch pitch.

As reluctant as he was to play in the first place, Harry had to admit he had fun playing with his friends and classmates, quite a few of whom were killed in the Battle of Hogwarts in the original timeline.

Never did his team conceding a goal, or his teammate getting hit by a Bludger cheer him up so much.

He didn't keep track of the score or the Snitch. He spotted it easily within the first five minutes of the game but he wanted to extend the game as long as he could. It was this scrimmage that made him finally realise more than anything that he was in the world of the living. That he _really _had a second chance. He wasn't dead even though by all logic, he very well should have been...

*

A tired group of Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs made their way into the Great Hall for lunch. The mood was hopeful and optimistic. The monster being destroyed, their classmates' pending revival, not to mention the return of their enigmatic headmaster contributed to this.

Harry really couldn't blame Ron this time for clawing his way through all the dishes laid before them ; the game had been really exhausting.

'So what are you planning to do the rest of the day mate?' Ron asked.

'I'm going to start my packing for sure and then I don't know. I'll go to the Hospital Wing and wait for everyone's recovery.'

'Oh, you're not allowed to do that. Professor Dumbledore expressly forbade anyone from watching. So we can meet up with Hermione after she comes back to our common room,' Ron said.

'What? You forgot to tell me that in the morning when I asked you!' Harry said, glaring at Ron.

'I forgot mate, I'm sorry,' Ron said, not looking very sorry at all.

Harry simply shook his head.

Later, after shaking off a pigheaded Ron, who seemed to have it in his mind that he, Harry and Ginny should 'take a walk' around the castle grounds, Harry lay down on his four-poster bed, thinking.

_'I'm down, the diary is down and there's a diadem waiting for me at Hogwarts. I can't get it and keep it in my possession, I'll have to destroy it immediately. How am I gonna do that?_

_Taking the fang's gonna be pretty impossible. I'll probably have to wait from anytime around six months to a year to touch that ruddy basilisk._ _I don't know how powerful I was as a seventh year, but there's no question of nicking anything from Dumbledore's office. Which leaves only Fiendfyre. Hermione reckoned it was too dangerous and probably even too difficult for her to wield that kind of fire. How would he be able to use it?_

Harry finally decided that since it was only the end of his second year, he had plenty of time to plan and execute to perfection. With the current resources at his disposal, he had no way of getting a Horcrux or destroying one. He hated the idea of it, but he would have to leave school without doing anything on the Horcrux and Voldemort front. He would wait till Hermione was better and till Sirius escaped in a month's time before setting things in motion...

*

Hours later, Harry was under his Invisibility Cloak, stealthily making his way down to the Hospital Wing. Unluckily, he didn't have the Marauder's Map, which he would have to take from Fred and George sooner or later. He knew it would be extremely useful to have them on his side, and yet, he couldn't figure out who to tell of his deadly secret. There were so many people to be considered - Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus..

Shrugging off these thoughts, he stuck to the shadows and crept along, finally reaching the corridor where the Hospital Wing was located, and he hid behind a statue of armour.

It had seemed like barely five minutes had passed when he heard voices in the vicinity.

'Is it ready, Madame Pomfrey?' he heard Dumbledore mutter to the hospital matron.

'Yes, Professor, I finished it some time this morning and I just had to run a couple of tests to make sure everything was clear,' she replied.

'Very well, then, it is time,' he heard Professor McGonagall open the doors to the hospital and peering out, he saw quite a few of his teachers walk in, closing the door firmly.

Quickly making his way to the doors, he peered in through the window and saw Dumbledore and McGonagall talking to each other in hushed tones while Pomfrey had gone in to her quarters to get the antidote solution. Professors Flitwick and Sprout were inspecting the victims.

Then, he heard footsteps behind him. Stiffening, he had no choice but to turn around as silently as possible, as he didn't have the Map on him.

It was Severus Snape.

Harry certainly wasn't expecting it and he would absolutely deny it for years to come, but his heart lightened when he saw the tall silhouette of the pale, greasy man approach him slowly, his cloak billowing in the air as he walked, giving him a bat-like appearance.

His face came into view, and Harry saw his eyes, deep black eyes that he had always considered emotionless, void ; but in actuality had harboured an everlasting, undying love.

_'Look at me....'_ Harry remembered solemnly, as though the words had just been uttered mere seconds ago.

Snape walked past him and was about to open the doors of the Hospital Wing when he stopped dead in his tracks. He took two steps away from the doors, before looking around suspiciously.

Harry stayed exactly as he was, not even daring to breathe or move a muscle, he watched as Snape's familiar frown caught up onto his face. Snape took his time to make one last inspection of the corridor, before bowing his head and walking, opening the doors silently and yet dramatically.

Harry snorted. '_Has to make an entrance,' _he thought dryly.

He resumed his position beside the window and looked inside.

Madame Pomfrey was giving a ladle full of medicine out to every student and was being assisted by Snape.

Knowing that he had little time before the students woke up and exited the wing, Harry quickly hid behind the armour again.

He didn't have long to wait. The students slowly filed out after being declared fit. They walked out leisurely, muttering and chattering amongst themselves excitedly, all obviously excited to be walking and talking again. Harry searched frantically for the one he sought the most. He noted absently the faces of Justin, Colin and Penelope Clearwater. He saw Nearly Headless Nick glide away from the area, patting everyone he passed warmly on the back. They came out mostly in twos and threes.

And then, at long last, he saw her. She was alone, no one to accompany her. Harry's heart stopped as he took in the sight of her beautiful face, her untamable brown curls, her pink cheeks that were vibrating with life again ; her soft, pink lips that begged to be kissed once, twice, thrice, again and again for all eternity...

He took his cloak off as he looked into her warm, chocolatey-brown eyes and something seemed to draw her gaze to his at the same moment. They stayed like that for a second, Harry remembered being struck down by Voldemort's killing curse, he had looked into Hermione's eyes the same way before he had fallen.

And then, like that, the moment broke and Hermione ran into his waiting arms. Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he buried his face in her hair, inhaling her familiar, friendly scent. She cried even though it was nothing more than a happy reunion between friends, he cried because the last time he had held her this close was during that stolen hour in the tent on a cold December evening.

AN - I forgot to put the parts about the sword and the diary in the previous chapter, so just accept the stuff in italics as part of his conversation with Dumbledore in the previous chapter. I didn't want to change the old one, coz I know it's pretty boring for readers to go back to an old chapter just for a couple of paragraphs.

According to the de facto map I have sketched out, this chapter was supposed to be 'Plans for the Summer' like I mentioned at the end of last chapter. However, as I write, I generally tend to discard any existing plans I have. Basically, I deviate a lot and write unplanned things. So, hopefully, the next chapter should be 'Plans for the Summer'.

Please read and review. Thanks to those who have reviewed.


	5. Hermione's Plans for the Summer

I am SO sorry about the delay in this chapter. Basically, I've been in a crabby mood because of college assignments and the like, and... I don't know what else to say, really...

Anyways, on with the chapter....

Chapter 5 - Hermione's Plans for the Summer

They stayed like that in each other's embrace for two full minutes, before breaking apart and looking at each other intensely.

Hermione's tear-stricken face broke into a watery smile and she started to speak ; her first words in months.

'So you guys figured it out,' she said, smiling broadly.

'Nope, you did,' Harry said softly, wiping away the last of her tears softly with his thumb. Remembering where he was, he quickly retracted his hand. This was a nearly fourteen year old Hermione, who was still his best friend ; not a seventeen year old who was his lover.

Hermione grinned at him, 'I just found out the nature of the monster in the Chamber, you guys did the rest.'

They made their way back to the Gryffindor common room. Harry noticed that Hermione's hand was quite close to his side. If he could just stretch out and take her hand in his...

'So who was responsible for all this in the first place?' Hermione asked, walking jauntily along the dark, deserted corridors.

'Tom Marvolo Riddle,' Harry said simply, turning to look at Hermione.

'Tom M-? But- Wasn't he the one who got an award for catching the culprit last time?' Hermione asked.

'No, he opened it last time too, he framed Hagrid for it. This time he possessed someone and made them call out the basilisk. It was him both times,' Harry replied.

'Wait a minute...' Hermione said, realisation dawning upon her, 'Marvolo...Volo.. Is that an anagram for Lord V-Vol- er- You-Know-Who?'

'His name is Lord Voldemort, Hermione,' Harry said seriously, 'And for the record, yes, they are one and the same.'

'Oh-but Harry, does that mean you met him down in the chamber?' Hermione asked worriedly.

'Yeah, I did, along with the basilisk and Ginny,' Harry said.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. 'Ginny?'

'Yeah, she was using that diary of Tom Riddle's too much, and at the end, she would have nearly died because of Voldemort's possession down in the Chamber.'

'And brave, heroic Harry Potter saved the damsel in distress and it all ends happily ever after, right?' Hermione asked frostily, although the smile was still present on her face.

'Yeah, no, wait... what?' Harry asked confusedly, wondering why Hermione's tone had changed so abruptly.

'N-Nothing Harry,' Hermione shook him off, and they walked through the portrait hole together.

They stopped underneath the sets of staircases leaading up to the boys and girls' dorms and turned towards each other.

Not knowing what to say, Harry ventured, 'Hermione... Is ev-everything alright?'

'Of course they are Harry,' Hermione snapped, 'I'm awake, everyone else's awake, the basilisk's dead, you like G- you saved Ginny, so pretty much everything's fine.'

'Hermione,' Harry said soothingly, knowing what Hermione had tried to cover up, 'I don't like Ginny.'

'What?'

Harry sighed. He took her hand in his and said, 'I mean... I care for her, because she's Ron's little sister, but that's it. I don't like her like _that._'

'Oh,' Hermione blushed prettily, before looking away quickly. 'I just thought that maybe you and her-'

'I actually have my eyes on another girl,' Harry said boldly, looking meaningfully into her eyes.

'Hmm...l-lucky girl, Hermione muttered, willing herself not to sink into his gorgeous green eyes. She cleared her throat and moved away from him.

'Well, I'll see you in the morning, Harry,' she said casually at the foot of the staircase.

'Okay, g-goodnight,' Harry said, before smiling nervously at her and almost running up the stairs to his dormitory.

Hermione didn't know whether to smile or cry. She walked up the stairs to her dormitory slowly, analysing and replaying Harry's actions in her mind.

After having a quick shower and changing into a comfortable pair of pyjamas, she went to sleep, thoughts running rampant in her head.

_'He was the one who initated_ _physical contact both times. He hugged me first and then he was the one who took my hands in his. Not to mention the way he looked at me when he said that he had his eyes on another girl.'_

Hermione sighed softly, things were getting pretty confusing. Harry's actions could have been purely platonic and signs of relief because he was seeing his best friend after such a long time. After all, Harry had never noticed her before in that way. She had never heard him or Ron expressing to her or anyone else that she, Hermione, was attractive. Hermione wondered for a moment whether they hadn't said anything because they probably didn't consider her as sexy, or that they _did_, but couldn't say something like that to their best friend.

She knew she wasn't arrogant or over-confident or anything, but she felt herself ruling out the former option. She was nearing fourteen now, she seemed to be growing more and more in the right places. Not to mention the slightly bigger bras her mum gave her as a Christmas present.

Maybe she would have to take the matter into her own hands and find out who Harry liked. If it was her, then she was one lucky girl. Hermioe blushed and allowed her seldom seen teenage daydreams to surface. Another memory surfaced, a memory of a conversation she had with Ginny at the beginning of the year on the Hogwarts Express...

_'The stupid prats are going to kill themselves!' Hermione shrieked, looking out the window._

_'No, they won't,' Ginny said from behind her._

_Hermione turned away from the window and looked at Ginny. 'What makes you think that?' she asked, frowning._

_'Harry's over there, he'll pull off something incredibly heroic,' Ginny said with utmost conviction._

_'Yeah, of course he will, because last I checked, he was the reincarnation of Merlin, not a twelve year old boy,' Hermione said testily._

_'He's a twelve-year old hero,' Ginny snapped back._

_'All right, all right, if you want to fix the image of him as a God in your head, who am I to stop you?' Hermione replied, raising her eyebrows._

_'You don't know all the things he's done,' Ginny said, refusing to be cowed down by the older girl._

_'Oh, and I suppose you do?' Hermione asked._

_'Yes, he killed You-Know-Who singlehandedly with the most powerful magic when he was just a year old. He also-'_

_'Okay, everyone in the world knows that. All you have to do is go to a bookstore and open the first book you see and presto, it's Harry Potter's biography!'_

_'You don't show Harry the respect he deserves,' Ginny shot venomously._

_'You're right, I don't show the Boy Who Lived the respect he deserves ; I show Harry Potter, my BEST FRIEND, the respect he deserves,' Hermione said firmly, looking at the annoying girl right in the eyes._

_Ginny glared at her for a moment, before looking back out the window._

_'You have a crush on him, don't you?' Ginny suddenly asked._

_'What?!' Hermione exclaimed._

_'You heard me, I said you fancy him. Isn't that true?'_

_'No, it's not. However, considering the fact that you barely spoke a word around him the whole summer, and the fact that your face seemed to be the same colour as your hair all the bloody time, I would say YOU have a crush on him!' Hermione said._

_'Whatever,' Ginny grumbled, her face going the exact colour Hermione had just described._

_They sat like that for a couple of minutes, occasionally glancing out the window to check the Ford Anglia's progress. Then, Ginny broke the silence._

_'All right, I fancy him a lot, and since you don't, can you tell me how to get him?' Ginny asked, in a much more pleasant tone than before._

_Hermione now found herself in a bit of a dilemma. She was quite sure she didn't fancy Harry, but she wasn't sure. She always thought he was kinda cute, not to mention sweet and caring. Could she stand another girl getting Harry for herself? No, she thought firmly, she couldn't. She was the first girl in Harry's life and she was his best friend._

Hermione rolled over in her bed. She had been helpful that day because she didn't want to offend Ron's sister, but at the same time, she made sure Ginny didn't get too many ideas.

Which gave rise to another question : Did she want Harry going to the Burrow that summer and risk him spending a full month in the company of Ginny Weasley? No, she didn't think she did. But she certainly didn't want Harry spending any more time than necessary with his horrible relatives. But first of all, did she even fancy Harry Potter? That was hard to answer. She turned over again uneasily. Whether she did or didn't, there would still be hordes of girls who did, because along with being a Dark Lord slayer, he was now surely going to be dubbed a basilisk slayer. Regardless of whether she did or didn't, she didn't want Harry being with a 'fan-girl', who would just fawn over him and treat him like Merlin.

Maybe she could call him over and have him spend the summer at her place? She knew her parents' always wanted her to have a friend over, because she was a loner and barely had any friends while growing up till she came to Hogwarts. But bringing a boy over? She knew her parents wouldn't be too enthusiastic over the idea. Or more specifically, her father.

She sighed as she thought of the 'talk' she had with her parents before coming to Hogwarts for her second year. She was now thirteen years old, a teenager. Her parents, or more specifically her father, had delved into the topic too deeply for her liking. She had left them on speaking terms, but things were still a bit dicey between her and her father. She would have to send a letter to her parents asking them if it was alright for her to bring a friend over for the summer holidays. She frowned. Her father wouldn't mind at all, but when he found out that the friend was a boy, she wasn't particularly looking foward to his reaction.

She fell into an uneasy sleep, trying to word out the contents of her letter in her head.

Hermione woke up very early the next morning and scribbled down her letter trying not to emphasise the fact that she was bringing over a boy, rather mentioning the words 'best friend' again and again.

After giving her letter to a dark brown barn owl in the Owlery, she made her way to the Headmaster's office, intent on talking to him about Harry's summer plans. She stopped in front of the gargoyle statue, looking at it uncertainly for a moment, before spouting out a bunch of historical names that she had come across in Hogwarts, A History which could serve as likely passwords.

Eventually stomping her foot in frustration, she was interrupted by the very person she wanted to meet, a calm, pleasant voice.

'Breaking and entering, Miss Granger?' Professor Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling madly.

'Uh-er-no, sir, the p-password,' Hermione blushed, looking at her feet.

'Try Bertie Bott's Earwax,' Dumbledore said, coming to a still beside Hermione.

Hermione gasped, the greatest and most powerful wizard of his time, had a flavoured bean as his password?!

Dumbledore only chuckled at Hermione's gobsmacked expression and gestured for her to enter first.

Hermione took a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk and looked around curiously, having never been there before.

'Sherbet Lemon, Miss Granger?' Dumbledore offered kindly, holding out a small, decorated box, nearly filled to the brim with the aforementioned candy.

'What?' Hermione blurted, 'Umm.. No, I don't think, that's all right Professor, I-I'm fine,' Hermione said.

Dumbledore only smiled mysteriously before popping one piece into his mouth.

'Miss Granger,' Dumbledore spoke softly, settling down into the ornate chair behind his desk, I assure you that there were many people who pushed for the conduction of examinations, but I must say, a great evil has departed and the staff in general are in favour of the cancellationn. Of course, separate arrangements have been made for the fifth and seventh year students. Although may I ask how you found out even before I've announced it to the school?'

'What?!' Hermione shrieked, temporarily forgetting the reason she had come there in the first place.

'You didn't know?' Dumbledore said, clearly surprised.

'No,' was all Hermione said.

'Indeed,' Dumbledore replied gravely, 'So what seems to be the problem?'

'Oh, sir, it's about um - Harry's summer arrangements,' Hermione said, willing herself with every ounce of restraint she possessed to not launch into a tirade about the benefits of conducting exams, no matter what.

'Harry's summer arrangements?' Dumbledore repeated, his eyebrows going up.

'Yes sir, I was wondering, well, I know Harry goes to his uncle's for the summer, but...' Hermione trailed off.

'Yes, I know what you are referring to Miss Granger, but I'm afraid to say it's necessary for him to reside there every summer,' Dumbledore said.

'But why? I mean, they are his relatives and all, but why is it compulsory for him to do so?' Hermione asked.

Here Dumbledore hesitated for a moment. He had never given Harry the answer before and he didn't know how to respond to the young witch's query.

'Professor, why does he have to stay there every year?' Hermione insisted, feeling nervous and also a little angry at the same time. She had never confronted a teacher in this manner before.

Dumbledore sighed deeply before answering.

'Might I ask you to not repeat what I am about to say to anyone?' Dumbledore said, peering down at her through the rim of his spectacles.

'Uh-yes, of course,' Hermione replied, then she added, 'Although if it's so secretive, I wonder why Harry's never brought it up with me or Ron before.'

Dumbledore faltered slightly, a bare hint of guilt forming itself upon his face. Hermione didn't miss it.

'You didn't tell him, did you?' Hermione frowned, her words coming out more as a statement than a question.

'I can't lie to you Miss Granger, but yes, or rather no, I did not.'

'Why, what-'

'I decided to tell him the reason when he grows a bit older, along with a few other things, perhaps when he's fifteen or sixteen,' Dumbledore interrupted calmly.

'Professor, I know it's none of my business, but it's probably only your business to tell him important things about his life, and not to decide when to tell him. He has a right to know,' Hermione said, wondering if she was going to get into trouble for the way she was mincing words with the Headmaster.

'Miss Granger, you are right on all counts, but some of it is what I deem very sensitive information. It should probably wait for a couple of years. I have every intention of telling him things he needs to know.'

'No offense professor, this is just my opinion, but basically you're thinking he's too immature and kiddish to deal with all this, right?'

Dumbledore sighed again, he seemed to be doing that a lot in the last ten minutes.

'None taken, Miss Granger,' he said sofltly, before continuing, 'By no means do I think he's immature, but-'

'So why don't you tell him?' Hermione interrupted, 'He'll probably hate having things kept from him, especially things about himself. He faced V-Vol - You-Know-Who three times, he's dealed with so much pressure this year. I mean all the idiots thought he was the heir of Slytherin and he was subject to their ridicule and now everyone will probably be hiding their dirty faces in shame because he trumped through and proved himself, despite the odds. He's-'

'Miss Granger, Miss Granger,' Dumbledore said softly, holding up a hand for her to stop. Hermione stopped mid-rant.

'All I can say is I definitely will consider it. You have enlightened me to an extent. That's all I can offer at this moment. Now, please tell me what you wanted to ask me when you arrived here?'

Hermione looked at him for a moment but knew that was as good as she was going to get for the time being, so she plowed forward.

'I remember last year Harry stayed at his uncle's place for some time, but then the Weasleys flew h- took him to their house, and... and that seemed to be alright. So... So I was wondering if Harry could visit my house for the summer this year?' Hermione asked softly.

Dumbledore peered down seriously at Hermione, his half-moon spectacles falling down to his nose.

'That.. might be acceptable, if he has no problems, that is,' Dumbledore finally responded.

'Great!!' Hermione squealed, then immediately covered her mouth with her hand, blushing furiously. Dumbledore smiled down knowingly at her.

'Well, I've already written a letter to my parents asking if it's okay with them, although I'm sure they'd have no problems, and I'll ask Harry today at breakfast,' Hermione said, her face returning to its normal colour.

'That is reasonable, Miss Granger. However, I must insist that he stay at his relatives' for a week or so before going to your house. I know he'll probably be disappointed at the idea, but it is essential,' Dumbledore said.

Hermione's smile dimmed a fraction, though she was still jubilant. From an initial period of two months, she had brought Harry's certain-to-be unpleasant stay down to barely two weeks.

'Thank you professor,' Hermione beamed, getting up.

'Not at all, Miss Granger. Although it is necessary, I resent the idea of him staying there,' Dumbledore said, a hint of sadness evident in his voice. 'Is that all?'

'Yes Professor, that-that's the reason I came,' Hermione said, walking toward the door, Dumbledore striding along side her.

'Well, off you go then, Miss Granger, I'm sorry about the examinations once again. Good morning.'

'Bye Professor,' Hermione responded, before she made her way down the rotating staircase.

Dumbledore sat back in his chair wearily. The girl had certainly opened his eyes and now he was beginning to wonder whether his plan was as foolproof as he thought it to be.

Harry _was _mature and he had a right to know all the secrets concerning himself. His mother's sacrifice, the prophecy, his scar...

Yet, the old part of Dumbledore, the part that held secrets close to himself, afraid to share, afraid to trust freely ; saw no reason in diverting from the plan. Everything would turn out well and good after all, no need to disturb the equilibrium, stick to the plan and things would be good...

_'Ah, for the greater good, after all,' _Dumbledore thought bitterly, his head in his hands, as memories of a hundred years flashed by in his mind.

Was he doing the right thing, manipulating people for their own benefit, for the greater good?

He frowned, he had felt the same way at the end of last year when Harry had done so magnificently, but now Hermione's short outburst brought these feelings to the surface again.

He probably wasn't manipulating them, but yet he knew his plan rendered many good people at a disadvantage.

A small, soothing chirp aroused him from his melancholic thoughts.

He looked intently at Fawkes for a moment, feeling the entire hundred and twenty odd years of his age, not knowing how to proceed..

'Maybe I _am _going about things the wrong way,' he said uncertainly to himself, 'After all it wouldn't be the first time,' he finished in shame.

Vowing to think about his actions further, for now he settled himself to reaching over and putting three pieces of his favourite candy into his mouth.

Fawkes chirped pleasantly again.

I hope you liked this chapter and hopefully I'll update much sooner than I did this time.

Please review, although I'm not able to respond to all reviews, I DO read and appreciate every single one, so hit the review button guys!!


	6. What Happened in the Tent Part I

Please read the AN at the bottom of this chapter when you're done reading the chapter---

Chapter 6 - What Happened in the Tent - Part I

Harry walked up the stairs to his dormitory, the short conversation he had with Hermione buzzing around in his head.

He climbed into his bed, glad that Ron was fast asleep and not awake to question and pester him.

Hermione's reaction to him mentioning Ginny certainly suggested to him that she wasn't pleased with it. Did that mean she fancied him? Or did it just mean she only had a friendly interest and that she thought he could do much better than Ginny?

He really wished he could have kissed her when he mentioned having eyes on another girl, but something had quelled him. Even now, he didn't know how Hermione felt about him in return. He knew how she had felt all along in a previous lifetime of his. Oh yes, he remembered. He remembered finding out too late. He remembered realising on that terrible cold night that he couldn't do anything about it, that he was too late, that he had missed his chance.....

December 1997 - Ten minutes after Ron Weasley's Departure

_Harry laid down on his makeshift bed, his head throbbing vigorously, the events of the last five minutes roaring at him, burning themselves in his mind ; rendering sleep impossible._

_He saw red at that moment, hating every last thing in the universe ; he sat up in a fit of uncontrollable rage, ripping his pillow into shreds, discarding the feathers of the bed piece all over the floor. He threw his bed sheet away from him with a snarl, he got out of his bed and paced his small room furiously._

_He was a loner, he thought to himself darkly, always was one and always would be one, he told himself again and again, staring out into the night with hatred etched permanently into his emerald-green eyes, eyes that had once sparkled with life and joy. _

_He truly loathed everything he knew in that moment - Ron - for abandoning him cruelly like that, Dumbledore - for his damned manipulations, Sirius - for leaving him although it was his fault he had died in the first place, and his parents - for sacrificing themselves and allowing him to live this cursed, wretched life....._

_As he walked to the doorway he imagined he could hear something. Straining his ears, not really caring, he idly noted that it was the muffled sobs coming from Hermione. Too numb from shock and pain to do anything at that point, he merely listened for a moment with disgusted impatience, before he continued his strides. In fact, he reckoned he liked the sounds of her crying. _

_'Good,' he thought to himself savagely, hatred against her flowing through him, 'Let her feel some of what I'm feeling, let her suffer like I have all this time...'_

_Even as he thought that, he felt sick, he felt disgusted with himself. How could he even think that? He had every right to feel angry at Ron, Dumbledore, Voldemort, the world in general, but why Hermione...? She had done nothing to him, except unerringly stand by him when he was weak, when he was downtrodden and lost..._

_And now he was revelling in her misery, dispassionately listening to her weep, as if he could care less about the whole thing....._

_'FUCKKKKKKK!!!!' Harry roared, his suffering fueling his anger as he fell to his knees in shame, hot tears of disgust and shame flowing angrily down his cheeks._

_He moaned softly to himself, crying quietly, just as he had done so many times in the dark, small cupboard of Number Four.._

_His hatred and anger against everyone in the world vanished abruptly, only to multiply and redirect venomously back at himself, for harming someone he never even dreamed he could possibly harm, the sweet, innocent person in the other room, someone who had only ever strived to help and comfort him..._

_And how had he comforted her in return? He threw a blanket over her and left the room without even uttering a word._

_He chuckled to himself in self-loathing._

_As if in a trance, he got up slowly and made his way back to Hermione's room, determined to have his say ; determined to do **something**._

_'H-Hermione?' he called anxiously._

_Hermione immediately stiffened. She obviously hadn't been expecting Harry to come back and talk to her ; not after what happened._

_'What is it, Harry?' she said softly, not looking at him. She was sitting Indian-style in the middle of her bed, her blanket in her hand._

_Harry walked over to her and gingerly sat down on the edge of her bed. He pretended not to notice Hermione's eyebrows raise alarmingly out of the corner of his eyes._

_'I-I just wanted to-to' Harry stumbled, not knowing what exactly he had come here for, all he knew was that he would regret it if he hadn't come._

_To his surprise, Hermione nodded and she turned to face him at last. Harry was shocked when he saw the red, puffy face of his best friend. She was most definitely crying in here before he had come, worse than he had originally thought._

_He then found, much to his consternation, that he didn't want to take his eyes away from Hermione's bleary form. For, even now, like this, she was just beautiful._

_'I'm sorry, Hermione,' Harry blurted, knowing that he could say nothing else, yet hating himself for sounding so woefully inadequate._

_'What for?' Hermione sniffed. 'You have nothing to be sorry for. H-He's the one who l-left.'_

_'I know... but, I'm still sorry. I-I made you choose, I forced you into a decision you obviously weren't comfortable making. I-'_

_'Harry,' Hermione interrupted, 'I made the decision to stay. You didn't force me, no one makes my decisions for me, not even Ronald Bilius Weasley.'_

_The uncomfortable, tension-filled atmosphere immediately thickened even further, the iciness in the air comparable to the cold, biting weather outside their small tent._

_The palpable silence seemed to mock them, eerily flapping its wings in Hermione's room, glorying in the negative vibes it had caused to perpetuate between the two teenagers._

_After a moment, it was Harry who broke the silence._

_'Yes, I guess no one makes their decisions for you, certainly not **him**,' Harry said._

_They seemed to just stay there for some time, hanging about in existence, neither willing to skirt the topic of Ron, but both knew that they would have to discuss him eventually ; they knew they couldn't get away without doing so._

_'But yet, for what it's worth, I'm still sorry. I have a feeling... I have a feeling that I haven't exactly appreciated enough how much you've done for me and how much you've sacrificed for me,' Harry said, in a rush to get all the words out before he lost his nerve._

_Hermione smiled but didn't say anything._

_'So I wanted to say, um, thank you as well. Because I owe you a lot for always standing by me, for being there for me when no one would, especially now,' Harry added the last part bitterly._

_At his words, a soft sob escaped Hermione before she could stop it and she immediately turned away from him._

_Concerned, Harry reflexively ventured, 'I'm sorry Hermione, I shouldn't have-' Harry stopped. What had he said to upset Hermione? Even with his limited knowledge of girls, he knew that whatever he had just said couldn't have been upsetting to anyone._

_Hermione must have heard him stop in mid-sentence and seen his look of confusion, for she replied softly, 'No, Harry, I'm not upset with you. It's just that no one's ever told me how much I meant to them.'_

_Harry brightened up at her words, but then another question popped into his mind, one which he was hesitant to ask because of Hermione's sensitivity to it._

_Hermione looked as if she knew what he was thinking, but either chose to unconsciously ignore it or deliberately do so._

_'Well, my parents told me so when I was younger... but that's like a different lifetime now, isn't it?' Hermione made a brave effort to smile, but it failed miserably as her face was bloated with tears by that point and recent events gave no desire for Harry to smile either._

_Harry knew at that point that he should move a bit closer to Hermione and offer her a shoulder or something to cry on, he ought to comfort her a bit, but then Ron's contemptuous face popped into his mind, sneering at him._

_'I get it... You choose HIM!' Harry thought with dejection and anger as a livid Ron snarled at a bawling Hermione. They were both his best friends, weren't they? Then why did they treat each other like that? And now that Ron was gone, by his own decision as Hermione had expertly pointed out, shouldn't he help the only best friend he had left?_

_With a steely determination he didn't know he possessed, he forcefully shoved the image of Ron and any related memories out of his head and boldly ventured closer towards Hermione._

_Summing up all his courage, hoping his face revealed nothing, he darted his large, rough hand forward and clasped Hermione's small, soft one, gently rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb._

_The shock on Hermione's face however, wasn't disguised as adeptly as the nervousness on Harry's. She raised her eyebrows and her first impulse was to snatch her hand back, feeling it as a sign of disloyalty to Ron. The same Ron who didn't care how she felt, the same Ron that abandoned her, Hermione thought bitterly. 'No', she decided to herself, as she extended Harry's actions into a small hug, 'I need this as much as Harry does.'_

_'It isn't your fault that he left, Harry,' Hermione started, fully aware of being in Harry's comforting embrace for the first time in a long time. They hadn't had many of these hugs in the last year, she reflected morosely._

_'But you can't deny what he said,' Harry replied softly, 'Barring the locket, we've had no success whatsoever in this wretched mission.'_

_'And we haven't been able to destroy that either,' Hermione added unhelpfully, but both of them knew that this was the time for the truth, and nothing else._

_'Yeah, that too,' Harry added._

_'But that's not your fault, Harry,' Hermione said, leaning into him, 'We were trying our best and if Ron's not satisfied with it, then that's his problem. He acted like someone who doesn't know you at all, he really thought we would be living in hotels, eating chicken and beer and that we would have finished this whole thing by Christmas in order to get a sampling of mummy's Christmas special,' Hermione finished scathingly._

_Harry stayed still in shock, he had never heard Hermione talk like this before, he had expected her to sob all over him and hear her declarations of deep affections for Ron. All though he failed to understand why, that thought pained him probably even more than Ron's betrayal. Hermione, however, wasn't finished._

_'Yes, the fact is, we've had pretty much no success. But we will come across something soon and win this, because what we're doing is right, what You-Know-Who's doing is wrong. It's as simple as that.'_

_'Hermione, but you have to understand, I don't feel that confident at all, I don't think I can take him on, I don't even feel like the Chosen One, I...'_

_'Harry,' Hermione interrupted soothingly, laying a palm on his chest and looking into his eyes, 'I believe in you.'_

_Something in Harry broke at those simple words of confidence and trust from Hermione. He felt some part of him that was restrained, that was bound by chains, leave him forever and it was as though he had been given a new life to live, fresh air to breathe. The sensations that he was feeling couldn't be described as anything other than wondrous, and for that moment, as he and Hermione locked eyes with each other, the cold, indifferent night seemed to wash away, leaving something purely pleasant behind._

_'Thanks,' was all Harry could say as he looked intently at Hermione, trying to gauge what was going on behind those meaningful dark brown eyes._

_'I know you're only human, Harry, but I'll always be with you, for as long as you wa- need me,' Hermione replied, not taking her eyes off his either._

_Harry nodded in response. He didn't know what he was supposed to do now. He knew he didn't want to leave, this was probably the most meaningful time he had spent with Hermione since before sixth year, a year where he didn't seem to need her like he did now._

_The reflective melancholy must have been clearly visible on his face, because Hermione asked, 'What's wrong?'_

_'No-Nothing,' Harry replied. He didn't want to bring up sixth year now, a year where everything had changed for the both of them._

_'Harry, what is it?' Hermione surged on, curiosity and a hint of the old bossiness lacing her voice. Harry grinned. She hadn't been like that for a long time, and he was surprised to say he missed it._

_'It's just that-that- we haven't been like this for a long time,' he said, hoping that more words weren't necessary, and that Hermione would be able to figure it out without further explanation from him._

_He needn't have worried ; it was Hermione after all, the person in the world who knew him the most._

_'Hmmm,' she offered sadly, 'Sixth year, huh?'_

_'Yeah.'_

_'Do you ever sit down and wonder what happened to all of us that year?' Hermione asked._

_'No, not really,' Harry replied._

_'I have,' Hermione said, and Harry couldn't but help smiling ; Hermione always sat down and thought things over thoroughly, no matter what the topic or question. To his surprise, the tears started falling again from Hermione's face as she looked at him despondently and she opened her mouth to speak._

_'We were all so different last year, and me, I was such a - such a **horrible** person to you and to Ron and-'_

_'No, you weren't,' Harry said automatically. True, he had been unnaturally distant with his female best friend the whole year, but that was because of his fixation on Snape and Malfoy, and his refusal to give up the Potions book, which Hermione absolutely despised._

_'Yes I was Harry!' Hermione said hotly, 'Even though I hated that book of yours, I shouldn't have let it come in the way of our friendship by making snide remarks about you and fighting with you over every small damned thing, and then-'_

_'It wasn't my book, it was that foul murderer's,' Harry spat, venom filling his tone, 'I was foolish enough not to listen to you and get carried away with it. I should've known by then that not listening to you is a pretty foolish course of action.'_

_Hermione blushed and looked away from Harry._

_'You don't mean that,' she mumbled, still not daring to look at Harry._

_'I do,' Harry said, 'You were right in second year about the monster. You were the only one who figured it out. You were right in third when you thought that Sirius sent me the broomstick. And when I thought he was in danger, you were right when you said it was a trap and we shouldn't go to the Ministry. And then you were right about that book belonging to a filthy traitor,-'_

_'I wasn't right about that. I never liked the book, but I never thought of it belonging to him and while we're on the topic, I was wrong and you were right about Snape and Malfoy,' Hermione whispered._

_'Well, it's really heartening for my mind to find out that I was right at least once,' Harry grinned, trying to lighten the mood._

_'Don't be silly Harry, you can manage perfectly fine without me to tell you what's right, in fact you managed perfectly last year,' Hermione muttered the last part so softly that even Harry could barely hear._

_'What? What are you talking about? What happened that made you-'_

_'Harry, I hate actually saying the words, but it was so painfully obvious last year that you neither needed or desired my friendship,' Hermione said._

_'WHAT?!' Harry exclaimed, stung by her callous remark, 'Are you saying-'_

_Hermione raised her hand to silence Harry's reply._

_'I'm not saying it's your fault, Harry. You had everything you needed. You had a best friend you could talk to about Quidditch and teenage boy stuff, you had a book that would help you pass your exams and you later got a super-smart beautiful girlfriend who you could talk to about all your troubles. Even with the war on and Dumbledore's distressing lessons of You-Know-Who, you were the happiest I had seen you for a long time and more importantly you achieved it without me! I don't know why I was so hateful to you for that, but I was! No wait. Let me finish,' she said, as Harry opened his mouth to speak, possibly to contradict her, 'It took me a funeral, a funeral held for Dumbledore and the sight of you heartbroken, lying over his bent, broken body to understand how much I had screwed up, how much I had lost sight of what's truly important. _

_Harry stayed still in shock, not taking his grip off of Hermione, he wondered how long Hermione had been wanting to get this off her chest ; she was obviously distressed for a long time and yet he had done nothing about it..._

_'After the funeral,' she continued, 'After you talked to Scrimgeour, me, Ron and Ginny went back inside to the castle, sensing that you needed some time alone. I knew by then that you had just broken up with Ginny and you were probably hurting over it, but then I saw something that made my heart break, that made me cry loudly, that made me more depressed than anything else ever had in my life, probably even more depressing than three years of unreturned feelings...'_

_'What did you see?' Harry asked, not registering Hermione's words fully, as he was too busy trying to recollect what he had done that had devastated Hermione._

_'I saw you falling,' Hermione replied monotonously._

_'Eh?' Harry replied, clueless as to what Hermione was talking about, but it was definitely something really important to Hermione as she was now crying harder than she was before and she was trembling in his arms._

_'I-I saw you fall to your knees beside the tomb,' Hermione sobbed even louder as she said this, she moved closer into Harry's arms and burrowed her face in his chest. 'I saw despair and a sense of...helplessness on your face that day. It was something I had never seen. It looked as though you had just given up completely. And at that moment, it struck me. Struck me hard. It just hit me out of nowhere, well, it probably hit me from the angst and loneliness radiating from you. You had so many things left to do, so many things to say and you had no one. When I saw you on your knees that day, I knew what you needed. You needed an outlet, a support, possibly a friend. You had just broken up with Ginny, you wouldn't touch the book with a ten-foot pole after its owner turned your life upside down ; Ron probably wouldn't be the best person for the job, considering his emotional range and all...'_

_She took a moment to catch her breath and to get the worst out. Harry just looked at her impassively, he remembered the time he had just fallen, without even holding himself, and Hermione was right. The harsh reality of the White Tomb struck him at that moment, the sun gleaming off its decorated edges and he felt a concentrated disconnection with the world around him, as though he was on a different plane of existence..._

_'I thought that left me as the only person left for you. But I was wrong. I thought that, even with our distance throughout the year, you would come to me and cry on my shoulder. But I was wrong. You never came. Even with your immense disappointment, even with the weight of the mountainous task ahead of you, you didn't even consider coming to me for support, coming to me for help... And that was when I almost died, Harry. I never hated myself more than I did in that moment. I couldn't breathe, for the realisation of what I had done, of what I had thrown away hit me like a bullet. I don't even know how I could have even **attempted** forgetting my only true l-'_

_Here, Hermione shook her head furiously, as if trying to rid herself of something, before she continued. _

_'The fact that you were there, in pain, hurting and grieving over your loss, and that still you hadn't thought of coming to me, hurt me more than you can ever imagine. I made a promise to myself that night, Harry. I swore that I would never abandon you again. I swore that I would help you always and make sure to avoid a repeat of that year's fiasco. So now, after Ron left, you still didn't come to me, even though I was hurting just as much as you were. You gave me your blanket and went to sleep.'_

_'I came to you now, I know you-'_

_'I know you did, Harry, but I'm just telling you why I'm so upset, why I'm sad. I swore not to leave you and now I find that you still can't stand the sight of me, much less be alone with me.. '_

_'I can't reply to that Hermione. I don't know, I'm just overwhelmed by everything you've just said. But the important thing is, I'm with you now. Initially, I just walked away after R-Ron left, but then I heard you crying and then something struck me too. Putting it in your own words, it was probably the grief radiating from you that struck me. I don't exactly know what happened, but I knew then, deep down, that I didn't EVER want to hear you crying like that again. I-'_

_'I should have used a Silencing Charm,' Hermione commented bitterly, 'Then you wo-'_

_'No, I'm glad you didn't, because then, we wouldn't be able to talk like this. Tomorrow and the day after and the days after would've been awkward and uncomfortable for both of us. We wouldn't-'_

_'I know,' Hermione silenced him and continued, 'I'm glad I could talk to you about this too. I just wanted you to know, that's why I was crying. Not because Ron left, well, partly because of that, but mainly because I thought that I had somehow failed to help you again and that you couldn't bare to stand my presence anymore.'_

_'That will never happen, Hermione, I promise you that. Whenever I have a problem, whenever something's bothering me, you're the first person I think of to go to, and it will always remain that way, no matter what. It's because you're super-smart and I could trust you with anything, absolutely anything,' Harry said, not knowing where the words were coming from, yet somehow knowing that they were the right ones to say. He looked at her deeply for another moment before leaning forward and kissing her softly on the forehead._

_'Not to mention you're incredibly beautiful, too,' Harry whispered huskily while pulling away from her forehead and looking directly into her eyes again._

_A soft tinge of pink appeared on Hermione's cheeks as she smiled nervously at him._

_Harry didn't know what was going on with him. It had started when he heard Hermione crying and then intensified in the last few minutes because of his close proximity with his best friend. Although, on hindsight, it seemed like he had always felt this way..._

_'There's another thing I forgot to tell you,' Harry said._

_'Oh?' Hermione inquired._

_'It's another thing you were right about,' Harry said._

_'What is it?' Hermione pressed, not taking her eyes off him._

_'There was a time long ago,' Harry began, 'We were alone and we were both in danger like we are now.'_

_Hermione looked curiously at Harry._

_'We were just about to get separated. Before leaving, you told me something that I never thought much about. Books and cleverness... you said that there were more important things in the world. Friendship, bravery, and... love,' Harry whispered, gently putting his hand under Hermione's face and lifting her chin up._

_'I never said love, Harry,' Hermione said, gulping nervously. Feelings she thought that she had managed to suppress a long time ago were dangerously coming back to the surface again._

_'I'm saying it, Hermione Jane Granger, because I think I'm hopelessly in love with you. You didn't say the word love before, but I said it to complete your sentence, in the same way that you complete me,' Harry whispered, looking into her eyes for a quick second, he had a feeling he wouldn't find any discouragement in there ; he was right. At the same time, they seemed to move forward an inch or two, before Hermione stayed herself, Harry closed his eyes and completed it, capturing her lips with his._

_***_

_(To be continued)_

AN - I initially had a hazy picture of this chapter in my mind and I was going to give it to you guys as a brief dream of Harry's, but then I changed my mind and wrote it in detail. That's because the angst and H/Hr interaction in this and the next chapter (which is gonna be 'What Happened in the Tent - Part II') is going to be the basis for a lot of Harry's decisions and reactions to the Weasleys and Hermione later on in the story.

And I know it said in Book 7 that it's Hermione Jean Granger, but I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, her name is Hermione Jane Granger, and nothing else!

Also, this is the first time I've written anything bordering on angst, so please tell me what you thought about it. Did it suck? Or was it believable angst? Tell me in a review!!


	7. Redirecting

To all my readers who are reading 'Turning Time', I'm sorry to say I won't be updating here any longer.

However, I will be posting regularly (or as regularly as I can) on ''portkey(dot)org''. I'm known as 'Lord Vader' over there and the link to the above mentioned story is ''fanfiction(dot)portkey(dot)org/story/8262'' so you can read and review on that page (you don't have to be signed in or anything)

Sorry for the delay!


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